IN YOUR FACE

Rico Anderson Ion Birch Brent Birnbaum Holly Coulis Dana Frankfort Andrew Guenther Daniel Heidkamp Ridley Howard Matt Jones Shay Kun Erik Lindman Federico Pietrella Tom Sanford Peter Saul Rachel Schmidhofer Barnaby Whitfield

BUIA Gallery is pleased to present, In Your Face, a group exhibition featuring a diverse range of interpretations on the theme of contemporary portraiture. The images, or faces, depicted originate in the artists’ imaginations, in the aspect of their peers, or in the scenes of everyday life. Inherently, portraiture metaphorically embodies culture, society, politics, personal attachments, and fantasy. Each artist, in his or her own visual language, offers insight into these areas while as a whole, the gathering of portraits opens up a dialogue of the surrounding social consensus.

Encompassing a cross section of contemporary artists, In Your Face aims to offer forth a diverse cross section of treatments of portraiture. Some artists, such as Ridley Howard and Holly Coulis, present rigorous, realist works that generate a timeless beauty. Other artists, such as Rico Anderson, Tom Sanford, and Peter Saul contort scale and implement vibrant color schemes to make direct sociopolitical statements. On yet a different trajectory, Matt Jones and Andrew Guenther loosen the framework and teeter on the line between abstraction and figuration. While still other artists, such as Brent Birnbaum and Dana Frankfort approach the theme of portraiture from more disparate avenues- the former implementing non-traditional photography and the latter painted text.

Ultimately, In Your Face presents a diverse group of artists that redefine the idea of portraiture today with a dose of humor, wit, and a social conscience.