Bill Claps "Sum of the Parts", Paintings and Drawings

Online, July 29, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Art for China Foundation proudly presents "Bill Claps, Sum of the Parts", an exhibition featuring paintings, drawings, and mixed media works that have gathered inspiration from sources as varied as the human figure, Chinese landscape painting, calligraphy, expressionism, appropriated images from contemporary art and the Morse Code.

Presented by:
Art for China Foundation
40 Exchange Place, 5th Floor West Wing
New York, New York 10004

www.billclaps.net
www.artforchina.com

Opening Reception: August 1, from 6-9 PM
On view: August 1 - August 15th

"Sum of the Parts" encompasses works from a decade of production where an ongoing exploration of the figure coincides alongside conceptual production. A sense of immediacy and gesture is the consistent feeling throughout all of the works. In Claps' words, "My work has explored the intersection of representation and abstraction, and the line is essential, as its path through the work tells the story and evokes the mood. "

"Sum of the Parts" includes works from the past two years that are more conceptual and narrative, utilizing photos and prints of Claps' drawings, and relying on text and symbolic representation to present his ideas. The new works, from the developing "It's All Derivative" series, are represented by several small-scale paintings and computer-generated prints. Executed with Morse Code, these works combine with and comment on the practice of appropriation in the art world, the use of borrowed elements and visual language from the past. These works recode once again art work which was once recoded.

Bill Claps, www.billclaps.net

Bill Claps' paintings and drawings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and institutions throughout the country, including Aspen Fine Arts Gallery in Aspen, Colorado, Bendheim Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Kismet Gallery in Westport, Connecticut. In New York City his work has been shown at Salomon Arts Gallery, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, Henry Gregg Gallery, Rush Arts Gallery, 14th Street Gallery, and M55 Gallery.
Bill lives in New York City and paints in his studio in Long Island City, NY. He studied painting in Florence, Italy and in New York at the Art Students League and Spring Street Studio.

Art for China Foundation, www.artforchina.com

Art for China Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization committed to providing underprivileged children in China with an opportunity to study and explore art at an early age. The foundation uses innovative and engaging programs, including providing supplies, textbooks, teachers, and trips, in an art school environment, to enhance the lives of these children. Art for China believes that art education can play a pivotal role in enhancing a disadvantaged child's quality of life, allowing for less fortunate children to pursue a creative form of educational advancement, coloring their dreams in the process.