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MICHAEL BRADEN
URBAN ECOLOGIES: A PATTERN LANGUAGE November 23, 2019 - January 4, 2020 Opening Reception: Saturday, November 23rd, 5 - 8pm |
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
George Billis Gallery is pleased to present Urban Ecologies: A Pattern Language, the gallery's first solo exhibition of paintings by Los Angeles-based artist, Michael Braden. Urban Ecologies: A Pattern Language explores the fabric of our urban environment and the patterns that define our ‘Sense of Place’. The exhibition features the artist's recent geometric abstract paintings and continues through January 4th.
Society’s natural proclivity is to advance at the cost of all else. This path to progress has inevitably led to an imbalance in the equilibrium of the natural sustainable system - we modify and take from the land we inhabit, severely transforming the natural landscape. In Urban Ecologies: A Pattern Language, Michael Braden responds to the underlying cultural, social, and technological forces that shape our urban ecosystem - creating paintings that use color and form to create order from chaos.
Urban Ecologies: A Pattern Language draws from the physical vocabulary we use to define our ‘Sense of Place,’ the paintings explore the structure and impact of our contemporary environments. The form these paintings take mirror the systems used to shape the urban landscape - the plotted geometric shapes could be architectural renderings or topographical maps. One could be looking sideways through buildings, or at the footprint of urban structures, or down at a grid of agricultural operations.
The color relationships in Braden’s paintings are intuitive and nuanced - subtle variations in shade and hue play off each other in what are, in effect, the next generation of color field paintings. The addition of a physically raised border between the forms adds to the sense of delineated spaces. It is not just the color that divides but a dimensional structure rising between the fields. Ranging in scale from window-sized to monumental, these paintings bring the viewer into a new ordered world, one where Braden has distilled and reshaped his surroundings and experiences.
Michael Braden studied Theoretical Physics at the University of Wisconsin, received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Minnesota, and received a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington. He was equally pulled by art and science, and to this day these fields of inquiry inform his paintings. Braden’s training as a painter included formal studies in art and design. Braden is represented in museums and private collections internationally. His work has been shown at the Riverside Art Museum, Bellevue Art Museum, the British Institute of Architects, Portland Art Museum, Ridhwan Sculpture Garden, and at the Grounds For Sculpture. He has won numerous international competitions and received widespread acclaim and honors for his innovation and design. Braden lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Back to Artist's Page
Society’s natural proclivity is to advance at the cost of all else. This path to progress has inevitably led to an imbalance in the equilibrium of the natural sustainable system - we modify and take from the land we inhabit, severely transforming the natural landscape. In Urban Ecologies: A Pattern Language, Michael Braden responds to the underlying cultural, social, and technological forces that shape our urban ecosystem - creating paintings that use color and form to create order from chaos.
Urban Ecologies: A Pattern Language draws from the physical vocabulary we use to define our ‘Sense of Place,’ the paintings explore the structure and impact of our contemporary environments. The form these paintings take mirror the systems used to shape the urban landscape - the plotted geometric shapes could be architectural renderings or topographical maps. One could be looking sideways through buildings, or at the footprint of urban structures, or down at a grid of agricultural operations.
The color relationships in Braden’s paintings are intuitive and nuanced - subtle variations in shade and hue play off each other in what are, in effect, the next generation of color field paintings. The addition of a physically raised border between the forms adds to the sense of delineated spaces. It is not just the color that divides but a dimensional structure rising between the fields. Ranging in scale from window-sized to monumental, these paintings bring the viewer into a new ordered world, one where Braden has distilled and reshaped his surroundings and experiences.
Michael Braden studied Theoretical Physics at the University of Wisconsin, received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Minnesota, and received a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington. He was equally pulled by art and science, and to this day these fields of inquiry inform his paintings. Braden’s training as a painter included formal studies in art and design. Braden is represented in museums and private collections internationally. His work has been shown at the Riverside Art Museum, Bellevue Art Museum, the British Institute of Architects, Portland Art Museum, Ridhwan Sculpture Garden, and at the Grounds For Sculpture. He has won numerous international competitions and received widespread acclaim and honors for his innovation and design. Braden lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Back to Artist's Page
George Billis Gallery opened its second location in the Culver City area of Los Angeles in 2004 and marks its 22nd year in the Chelsea arts district in New York City. George Billis shows work by both emerging and established artists. For more information please contact the gallery at:
2716 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
T: 310-838-3685
F: 310-838-3438
email: [email protected]
www.georgebillis.com
2716 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
T: 310-838-3685
F: 310-838-3438
email: [email protected]
www.georgebillis.com
