Rick Briggs: Full Circle at Flecker Gallery

       For JMB, 2015, alkyd house paint, spray, shirts, paint skins, and roller sleeves on canvas, 66 x 72 in.

Rick Briggs: Full Circle February 18 – March 15, 2016 Opening reception from 1:00-3:00 PM.   A gallery talk with the artist will begin shortly after introductory remarks.    Flecker Gallery is pleased to announce an upcoming solo exhibition of recent paintings by Rick Briggs.  The show is comprised of a dozen selected paintings made between 2010 and 2015 and they pack a punch.  These are paintings that push against convention and that have established a language and a territory all their own.  Briggs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and studied there at The Tyler School of Art (BFA).  He moved to NYC in 1980 and a year later to Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  Later he attended SUNY Purchase (MFA).  In 2004, he was included in the Brooklyn Museum’s “Open House: Working In Brooklyn” exhibition.  The following year he had his first solo exhibition, “Painter Man”, at the Sarah Bowen Gallery.  In 2008, Robert Storr invited him to be in “Making Do Trois” at the Yale School of Art. He had his 2nd solo show at Valentine in 2012 and has been included in many group shows at venues such as the Paula Cooper Gallery, The Drawing Center, and Arts & Leisure.  In addition to his work as an artist, Briggs has curated the shows “Let’s Get Physical” and “My Big Fat Painting” and written exhibition reviews for the art website Hyperallergic.  Briggs has attended artist residencies at Bennington College, The Edna St. Vincent Millay Colony of the Arts, and at the BAU/Camargo Center in Cassis, France in 2014.  He received the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2011 and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship in 2012.  Briggs lives and works in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalog with contributions by Matthew Neil Gehring, Robert Storr, and Wallace Whitney.  Please visit our website or contact the gallery directly for directions, to schedule an appointment, or to request a catalog. Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday, February 18, from 1:00 - 3:00PM.  A gallery talk by the artist will begin just after opening remarks at 1:00PM. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 10:00AM - 4:00PM and by appointment.         Flecker Gallery Suffolk County Community College Ammerman Campus Southampton Building 533 College Road Selden, NY 11784 631-451-4093 info

Back to the Future Part II @ Life on Mars

Amy Sillman, Williamsburg Portraits, 1991 -92, ink, gouache, pencil on paper 11 x 8 in. each

From the Press Release:

During a recent studio visit with Katherine Bradford, we were looking at her work for our upcoming exhibition and discussing our frustration about how painting was not represented in the recent survey show at the Brooklyn Museum, entitled, “Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and Beyond”.  We looked at each other and said (I don’t remember who said it first), “Brooklyn is the painting capital of the world”. Yep, there it is, it’s out there. During one of our conversations, Irving Sandler toldme that at this moment there are more painters and more painters with serious studio practices in Brooklyn than in any place in the world, and many of the most important contemporary galleries and museum shows feature works by Brooklyn painters.

Part II of Back to the Future will focus on some of the painters who were working in Williamsburg in the early 1980s (many of whom were friends): Peter Acheson, Katherine Bradford, Rick Briggs, Bill Jensen, Margrit Lewczuk, Chris Martin, Joyce Pensato, James Siena and Amy Sillman, who are also among the most influential and critically-acclaimed painters working today. They influenced the next two generations of Brooklyn painters, which layed the groundwork for the area to become this nexus, this hotbed - the center and focus for painting in the 21st century, while continuing to attract painters from all over the country and the world.

These painters all had different career trajectories, but their work has constantly developed and continues to evolve, even during decades when painting was not considered relevant in many art-world circles. Their painting practices are built on the authentic and uncompromising love of painting; the life it creates, the process of personal discovery revealed through the work, and the commitment, sacrifice, and discipline required for its practice. This commitment has produced work of great power, beauty and originality, which simultaneously embraces the history of painting and extends its language going forward.

We are grateful for their support and participation and to be part of this painting community. 

Michael David

February 2015

Back to the Future II

with work by: Peter Acheson, Katherine Bradford, Rick Briggs, Bill Jensen, Margrit Lewczuk, Chris Martin, Joyce Pensato, James Siena, and Amy Sillman

Opening: Friday, February 20, 6 - 9 PM

February 20 - March 15, 2015

Life on Mars

56 Bogart Street

Brooklyn, NY 11206

2011 Brooklyn Guggenheim Fellows @ Janet Kurnatowski

Janet Kurnatowski

April 27 - May 27, 2012

205 Norman Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11222