2016 Catalogue Archive

Ryan Sullivan’s recent “wave paintings” and “flat paintings” continue his investigations into layering and manipulating paint. In this series, Sullivan builds the work within a silicon mold (either flat or wavy) and slowly develops the piece over time. The painting is therefore made in reverse, and the gestures, drips, and brushstrokes combine to form a solid object without canvas, glass, or linen to act as its support or ground. The material has its own physicality showcased in the condensed layer of paint only a few centimeters thick. Sullivan’s abstract paintings are in collections worldwide, and he has participated in residencies at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and the Chinati Foundation.