NYAB Event - Richard Butler “naturalhistory”

Richard Butler “naturalhistory”

Freight and Volume

This event has ended.

For his third solo at Freight+Volume, Richard Butler continues his quest for the true portrait – the portrayal of emotion and soul – behind the façade. Using a motif of confessional screens, veils, masks and shrouds, he creates a labyrinth of psychological layers in which the viewer is invited to transverse and transgress, and through this transgression gain access to an understanding of the subject as well as the self. Butler moves through this complex realm with ease, both as a master painter and explorer of the psyche. He combines classic beauty and the surreal, even the grotesque, with a delicate grace. While at first glance his portraits may seem darkly religious, cultish, even fetishistic, with undertones of S + M worlds or bondage or allusions to hallucinogenic horror – Butler insists they are merely attempts to portray a single human being (in this case his daughter, or occasionally another family member) – in a variety of guises. After all, the artist declares, “These are just paintings”, and Butler allows the viewer to project his or her own imagination onto them.

naturalhistory is a new collection of portraits which delve as much into the mind and soul of his subject as the painter himself. The mystery of the person depicted, and what the artist refers to as “the void”, echo the artists own struggle to understand himself – as an artist, father, husband, musician - as a human being. Butler’s own non-linear journey becoming an artist and musician is revealing in this regard.