Richard Colman

19 sep 202017 okt 2020

Awakening from an anxiety filled dream and feeling discomposed. Realizing the dream was not a dream, but a very real reflection of self, culture, country and a world in a radical state of flux. Paintings composing themselves in response to this state of emergency. Unable to restrain the works’ narrative compositions, Richard Colman gave in to channelling the surreal in Spider Dream.

Fragmented and fluid compositions where beasts and humans congregate dissolve in each other and resurface as colours and geometrical shapes. Owl-like creatures with weary and worried eyes, sprouting multi coloured spider web patchwork plumage, occupy compositional equilibriums. In other paintings, human forms transcend to abstraction, leaving the figures for incorporeal existence in colour and space. Multi-faced figures, humanoid snakes, shape-shifters, and flower-growing-heads in dense formations all contribute to an eerie and restless sensation. Many of the new works juxtapose chaos and order as compositional metaphors for the current human co­­ndition.

Richard Colman’s (born 1976, Maryland, America) work is known for blending figurative imagery and bold geometry. Typically using complex compositions, Colman explores themes of human sexuality, societal hierarchies, life and death. His work ranges from small to large-scale paintings, murals and installations. Colman currently lives and works in San Francisco and on a farm converted to a large-scale studio in rural Connecticut. He has exhibited extensively in Europe and America. Spider Dream is Colman’s fifth solo exhibition with V1 Gallery.

Kilde: V1 Gallery.