William Crump “Gathering Ground” at Station Independent Projects

William Crump, Rise After Rise Bow the Phantoms Behind Me,
various dimensions, linen, brass, glass, gouache, flashe, wood frame, 2012, Courtesy of the Artist and Station Independent Projects, NYC

William Crump’s new works mine themes of spiritual rebirth, reconstruction and longing. Gathering Ground examines the overlap of Crump’s current body of work with his earlier visual language and influences from art history.  Here, the self-referential journey of the artist begins to encroach on previous imagined narratives, in which Crump peers across the chasm between reality and fantasy. Crump’s work alludes to ghosts, guardians and spirits that appear at particular intervals along the passage of time to identify and remind us of our original intended purpose.

Citing his influences for this recent body of work, Crump references the artist Monet in both his palette and form. Having revisited Monet’s cathedral paintings at the Musée d’Orsay, all grouped together and under glass, he was struck with not only their beauty, but reminded of the shift they represent in art history. This art historical shift was a refocusing on how the artist perceived the subject rather than on direct representation or on light, shadow and the senses.

In reexamining his work and his reasons for becoming an artist, Crump begins with the idea of literal reconstruction of materials, and the suggested reconstruction of nature and the human spirit. In his ongoing collage and drawing works, horses, arrowheads, gems, and phantoms all coalesce and speak to how we identify with our individual experiences, the ghost in the machine, and our elusive and shifting essences.

William Crump, Positive Force, flashe, glass, linen, aluminum, wood frame, 20”x20” & .25″x58″, 2012, Courtesy of the Artist and Station Independent Projects, NYC

About the Artist:

William Crump studied painting at Ringling School of Art and Design and he was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He currently lives and works in the East Village, NYC with his wife, and five-year old daughter. Recently, his worked has been exhibited at LittleBird Gallery, Los Angeles, Phenomena Project at The Trinity Museum in Manhattan, Fold Gallery in London, Galerie Surprise in Paris, Jen Bekman Gallery in New York and Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery in Philadelphia. Crump’s work has been reviewed in The Los Angeles Times, ArtUS, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. His work has been featured in Rojo Magazine, Rebel Magazine, Progress-Report, Beautiful Decay, Tabletop Magazine, Vitrine: a printed museum, and Oxford American.

About the Gallery:

Station Independent Projects organizes exhibitions and events with a focus on artist advocacy. Station Independent Projects specializes in discovering new emerging and mid-career artists who are not represented by galleries and organizes shows to connect artists to broader audiences.

Before opening the gallery in the Lower East Side, Station Independent Projects had organized exhibitions in the New York City area for over ten years with numerous New York galleries, art fairs and non-profits.

Station Independent Projects

164 Suffolk Street, NYC 10002

www.stationindependent.com

Additional Image by William Crump:

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