On Paper
 July 10 - September 4, 2010
Artist Reception Saturday, July 10, 2010 5-8pm

George Billis Gallery is pleased to present On Paper, an exhibition of works on paper by selected gallery and guest artists. Playing with the concept of works based on paper, the show will include prints, drawings, sculpture, and installations by emerging and established artists including Brian Borlaug, Tony Brown, Joe Davidson, Carol Es, Matthew Heller, Deborah Kirklin, Christophe Leroux, Lisa Oxley, Johnny Robertson, Ronald Santos, Agnes Szumski, Camilla Taylor, and Trine Wejp-Olsen. The exhibition opens on Saturday, July 10, 2010, with an artist reception from 5-8pm.

There is an immediacy to works on paper that sets the apart from other media. Seemingly ephemeral, works on paper exist in an ambiguous space. While some see them as intermediary steps to other works, such a view misses the nuances attainable in and on paper. From the plate marks of a print to the fine gradations of a pen line on paper, paper allows a delicacy and an interaction with the surface that is truly unique.

On display will be large scale sumi ink drawings by Ronald Santos. Drawing inspiration from landscape, architecture and sculpture, Santos creates complex and layered black and white drawings. Seemingly chaotic, the more one looks, the more one sees the meticulously controlled structure of these abstract works. Unframed and hung salon style on two walls, the eight drawings are a statement to the power of the simple line.

In stark contrast are Brian Borlaug's tight and meticulous prints. Working primarily in intaglio, Borlaug works from images of both personal and political narratives and histories. Using a range of techniques, the images are made up of tiny lines, dots, contours, and washes - areas of faces appear as topographic maps or made entirely of tiny dots. The self portrait of the artist is done entirely in tiny dots. Images of his mother, himself as a child, a beetle, and other ghosts of forms come together to make his face, glasses, and a tie.

In keeping with the paper theme, the show also includes Joe Davidson's sculptures of apples, made entirely of financial statements that artist collected, shredded and formed into six varied apple forms. As with much of Davidson's work, the series is about the cataloguing of the personal and of time in seemingly impersonal and mundane objects. Also included are Camilla Taylor's do-it-yourself paper crafts. Small figures, hand printed by the artist, start flat like paper dolls. With a nod to the current craze for collectible vinyl toys, the artist pushes beyond the commercial and involves the hand of the artist and if so desired, the hand of the viewer who can purchase the characters flat and put them together themselves.

Also included in the exhibition is an installation of Carol Es' "Wall Diary," an on-going series comprised of drawings and text on garment pattern pieces, as well as drawings by Trine Wejp-Olsen and Matthew Heller, prints by Christophe Leroux, monoprints by Johnny Robertson, and Tony Brown's 1951 inlays.

Above: Brian Borlaug, Reaching Larry 1972, 2009, intaglio, 15 x 20 inches
Below: Carol Es, Wall Diary, 2004-2010, pencil and ink on maila pattern paper, dimmensions variable







George Billis Gallery opened its second location in the Culver City area of Los Angeles in 2004 and marks its 14th year in the Chelsea arts district in New York City. George Billis shows work by both emerging and established artists. For more information please contact the gallery at:

George Billis Gallery LA
2716 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
T: 310-838-3685
F: 310-838-3438
email: la@georgebillis.com
www.georgebillis.com