Back in the 1990s, Brian Calvin began developing a figurative, non-narrative, pictorial style. Landscapes and portraits steeped in his Californian roots dominated this work. Close-up treatment of subjects, highly composed structures, as well  as  luminous colors laid flat endow these large-scale paintings with a  strange temporality. In observing his technique of pictorial economy, one gradually comes to see a type of abstraction in his representation of certain details. They reveal, even greater still, the true finality of his work, reaffirming the primacy of a visual reflection on painting itself and its possibilities. “I prefer to experience abstraction through the creation and tending of images. Painting provides the medium.”

Almine Rech Shanghai is pleased to present Sound, an exhibition of Brian Calvin’s recent portraits. The exhibition continues the artist’s exploration of the unique genre of painting, and furthers Calvin’s distinct development of emotions and imagery.

Sound is on view throughout February 29, 2020 @ Almine Rech Shanghai 27 Huqiu Road, 2nd Floor, 200002 Shanghai, China. photographs courtesy of the gallery