OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2007, FROM 5 - 7PM
The images in my paintings are metaphors for the adventure, battle and beauty of life. They were created to intrigue, inspire, or connect with viewers – and their own stories. - L.L. McAdams
Before paintings became bogged down in the twentieth century’s dizzying dialectic about form, process, politics, and the history of art, they told stories. In the past decade, contemporary artists have returned to the narrative tradition in large numbers. Many of these painters are leaving behind the grand stories and moral parables of their forebears, however, and are turning instead to stories which are more personal or intimate.
McAdams approaches the story-telling tradition from a distinctively Los Angeles point of view. His paintings are populated by attractive people in odd and suggestive situations. Many are cinematic in their sweep and composition and the mystery of works like A Measured Approach and Suburbia even suggest film noir. What are the scissors to be used for in Suburbia? Why is the woman running with a bird cage in A Measured Approach? The paintings seem to suggest that the mystery and beauty of life is most evident in those moments when things seem to make the least sense.
Larry McAdams graduated from California State Long Beach with a degree in Art Studio in 1974. This is his first solo exhibition with Sullivan Goss.
- Jeremy Tessmer, Gallery Director
