Midcity, Los Angeles
Angela Burson
Travelers
Hashimoto ContemporaryHashimoto Contemporary is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Savannah-based painter Angela Burson. The exhibition is Burson's debut solo exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary. The scenes depicted in Angela Burson’s solo exhibition Travelers at Hashimoto Contemporary reveal glimpses into the lives of strangers we meet in transient spaces. Building a fuller narrative through the connections between objects in the frame—each one carrying personal and cultural histories—the Savannah-based artist creates snapshots of mysterious figures in motion and the spaces they move through, transcending a particular time or space. Throughout this series of paintings, Burson positions the viewer as a detective who uncovers “signs of life” through the highly contextual relationship between objects and motifs. A cluster of prescription pill bottles and a cup of coffee share the living room table with crumpled Pabst Blue Ribbon cans, indicating a morning of recovery from the previous night of indulgence; a barely smoked cigarette in an ashtray next to a CRT television monitor paired with socks and shoes on the floor below might indicate an evening ritual is in session. An animal often acts as a witness to the scene’s entire chain of events, a keeper of the story that viewers can only piece together. Burson offers cropped, incomplete glimpses of the figures themselves, like a memory from an encounter deemed unimportant until the moment of recollection. The figures move quickly through Burson’s viewfinder, only the impression of their coats, luggage, or shoes remaining: a navy pinstripe suit contrasts with the pale blue polka-dotted shirt on a woman delivering a pressing message; a pale blue suit on a slender man carrying a brown suitcase in one hand, a long cigarette with swirling smoke in the other. “The jewelry, the clothing, the purses, and backpacks give me some insight into who I imagine the person to be,” writes Burson. “They’re a window into a story about a person in passing.” Angela Burson (b. 1969, Liberty, Missouri) is a visual artist working in various media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and needlework. Influenced by anachronistic images of fashion and personal objects, her paintings feature figures, their belongings, and interior spaces that indicate complex psychological and social relationships with one another. Often, Burson renders the figures headless so the viewer sees the clothed body not as a portrait but as a collection of objects and patterns, creating a surreal connection between realistic subject matter and flat, repetitive design. The objects, personages, or fragments of a body are often culled from Burson's existing family photographs. Shirts, empty suits, bandaged arms, headless torsos, a suitcase, a cat, a toy, a vacant room, and myriad other everyday objects and scenes are all employed as signifiers, providing glimpses into the complexities of identity and the ripe potential for meaning-making in the relationships between objects. Burson is an alumna of the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she received her B.F.A. in Painting in 1991. Now based in Savannah, Georgia, the artist has exhibited her work across the U.S. and abroad, at the SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah, GA), Hashimoto Contemporary (New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA), Tong Art Advisory SoHo Salon (New York, NY) NewGallery Most (Podgorica, Montenegro), and Galería Rafael Pérez Herando (Madrid, Spain). Her work has been featured in New American Paintings, Create Magazine, Frankie Magazine, The Jealous Curator Blog, and Paprika Southern Magazine.