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SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS is pleased to present Spirit Animal, an exhibition of work by NY based artist David Ellis and SF based artist Kevin Earl Taylor.
Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 13 • 8-11 pm
Exhibition Dates:
September 13 – October 11, 2014
1331 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
subliminalprojects.com
Taylor’s paintings depict stark, surreal landscapes that seem like moments frozen in time.
Animals and animal parts confront the viewer and each other, forms tied together by a
common visual thread or somehow fused into one another and their surroundings. Some
portrayals are lighter and incorporate abstract geometric stratospheres within the natural
landscape, bringing to question the nature of animals and whether or not our perception
of them as being so different from us is valid. The larger, earlier works are tense, forcing
the viewer to consider where or how the human exists within this scene and using the
absence of a human subject to question whether or not human presence would have a
positive or negative effect.
Kevin Earl Taylor, Morph, 2014, Oil and acrylic on canvas
Kevin Earl Taylor, Spirit Animal, 2014, Oil and acrylic on panel
Kevin Earl Taylor, Element, 2014, Oil on panel
Kevin Earl Taylor, Untitled II, 2014, Oil on panel
Kevin Earl Taylor, Untitled, 2014, Oil on panel
Ellis’ paintings also incorporate natural landscapes and makes use of animals as the main
protagonists. However his work conveys a sense of movement, energy and flow that is a
direct contrast to Taylor’s arrested, anthropomorphic figures. Ellis draws from his
surroundings, using what he knows and what is familiar and then incorporating what he
feels, what he sees, and what he hears. He is heavily influenced by music and is swept up
in the dynamics and constantly changing beat of life. Growing up in rural North Carolina
and currently living in Woodstock, NY, Ellis intertwines the landscape and its animals
with his own internal ebb and flow. The loudness of a free and natural rhythm and the
looseness of a fluid stream of consciousness is depicted through gestural and graphic
renditions of smoke clouds or undulating waves weaving their way in an out of wooded
scenery and the mouths of predators.
David Ellis, Bull, 2011, Mixed media on wood
David Ellis, Backyard Dog, 2011, Mixed media on paper
David Ellis, Snake, 2013, Acrylic, ink, spray enamel, and tobacco stain on paper
David Ellis, Cub, 2013, Acrylic, ink, spray enamel, and tobacco stain on paper
David Ellis, Bear 1, 2013, Acrylic and ink on found traffic sign
Both Taylor and Ellis find ways to incorporate the environment that humanity has
continuously distanced itself from and both remix their own spirit back into the portrayal.
Ellis builds out his signature patterns and swirls and paints himself into the work. Taylor
depicts an eerily distant scene, ultimately asking questions about relationships. He evokes
the symbiotic relationship of humanity versus the rest of the world while also asking how
we can possibly define our priorities without taking into consideration those of the world
we depend on. Taylor’s presentation of beautiful self-sustaining ecosystems and
cephalopods on pedestals beg the question of life versus art and to define the difference
between the two. Ellis’ stereo producing trees and animals howling graphic rays depict
the similarities between us and them and the free flowing necessity to engage in
animalistic behavior and perhaps embrace the rhythmic, and sometimes tense dance,
between what is natural and what is constructed.
Spirit Animal will be on view at SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS through October 11th.
David Ellis (B. 1971 in Raleigh, North Carolina) received a BFA from the Cooper
Union. He came to prominence in the early 2000s as the unofficial founder of the
renowned Barnstormers, an art collective known for public projects in small-town
communities in the American South. In recent years, Ellis has received commissions to
create works for Times Square Alliance and his work is in international collections such
as the Charles Saatchi Collection, Margulies Collection, and Deutsche Bank. Ellis has
conducted public projects at MOCA, MoMA, Deitch Projects, and Mattress Factory; his
work has been included in such notable exhibitions as Animated Painting, San Diego
Museum of Art (2007); Greater New York, P.S.1/M.O.M.A. (2005); and Beautiful
Losers, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati (2004).
Kevin Earl Taylor (B. 1972 in Charleston, South Carolina) lives and works in San
Francisco, California. In 1995 he received a B.F.A. from The Savannah College of Art
and Design. His work has been exhibited and published throughout the US, as well as
internationally. Though primarily an oil painter, he also explores time based art forms
such as sound and video.
