"From Line to Pixel", Bill Claps & Richard Brown

Online, March 10, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Salomon Arts Gallery
83 Leonard Street 4th Fl
New York, NY 10013
212-966-1997

www.salomonarts.com
[email protected]

On view: March 25th - April 22nd
Reception for the artists: March 25, from 6-9 PM

Salomon Arts Gallery is pleased to announce "From Line to Pixel", an exhibition featuring drawings and paintings from artists Bill Claps & Richard Brown.

In 1925 Paul Klee said "A line is a dot that went for a walk." With today's digital technology, lines can become dots, and then digitally manipulated back into lines again. This opens up infinite artistic possibilities, but in the process raises questions of where the work of the hand ends and the work of the computer begins. This exhibition contrasts the differences between traditional and digital painting by exploring the processes of two emerging artists. Both use drawings of the human form as the point of departure for their works, but utilize divergent approaches in the use of the line to achieve their final vision.

Claps' sensuous figurative work combines elements of both drawing and painting, and he draws directly into the canvas using oil pastel, graphite, charcoal, and other materials. "My work explores the intersection of representation and abstraction, and the line is essential, as its path through the work tells the story and evokes the mood. As my works evolve they take on a certain life of their own, at which point I facilitate the process and act as an arbitrator, deciding which structural elements deserve more or less prominence".

In contrast, Brown's vibrant graphic works evolve from a process that begins with computer renderings of his hand drawn figures, which he scans and re-draws digitally, adding colors and continually modifying via a computerized airbrush technique. "My process has been developed over years of trial and error until I've come up with a distinctive signature style".

This exhibition seeks to re-examine the age-old question of "What is Art?" by contrasting these artist's divergent styles and methods, one traditional and one implementing digital techniques. What is the effect on artistic purity and authenticity in our era when technology is often utilized in new and changing ways?

Bill Claps, www.billclaps.net
Bill Claps explores the intersection of abstraction and representation in his work, which draws inspiration from the human form and nature and combines elements of both drawing and painting. Immediacy and gesture are very important in his works, and he uses a combination of different materials and mediums, often drawing directly into paintings with pastel, graphite, charcoal, and other materials.

Bill lives in New York City and paints in his studio in Long Island City, NY. Bill studied painting in Florence, Italy and in New York at the Art Students League and Spring Street Studio.

Richard Brown, http://www.flickr.com/photos/25642543@N03/
Richard Brown's graphic works derive inspiration from his extensive background in advertising and graphic design. He has spent his professional career as an Art Director and Creative Director for major ad agencies in New York and has received over 300 advertising awards, including seven Clios, four Andys, four New York Film Festival medals, and one Cannes Film Lion.

Richard studied commercial art and graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He lives in New York City.