Press Release - "The Fear" by Woodrow White
Woodrow White
”Stunts”
Acrylic on Canvas.
24 x 20 Inches.
2019.
pt.2
The Fear
Woodrow White
Opening Reception: Saturday July 13th, 12-10pm.
Artist Talk: Saturday, July 13th at 4pm.
Showing Through: Friday, August 2nd, 2019
1523 b Webster St. Oakland, CA 94612
info@part2gallery.com
pt.2 Gallery is pleased to present “The Fear” a solo exhibition by Woodrow White opening Saturday, July 13th in Downtown Oakland. The exhibition will feature a new series of paintings by the LA based artist. pt.2 gallery is located at 1523 b Webster St. and is just blocks away from both 12th & 19th St Bart Stations. Opening receptions at pt.2: are always free and open to the public. To receive a preview of the exhibition please contact info@part2gallery.com.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be”
Kurt Vonnegut
Beginning a new chapter of my life in LA, I was reminded of the saying “fake it ’til you make it”.
That your false confidence will trick others into believing it’s real, and if it’s convincing enough, you may even eventually be able to trick yourself. In this city of myth-making, fantasies are told on a regular basis in hopes of one day becoming true.
Woodrow White
”Star Gate”
Acrylic on Canvas.
24 x 30 Inches.
2019.
The identity of the monster and the identity behind the mask becomes unified when flattened through the two-dimensional surface. In this plane of existence, they’ve achieved the persona they dress for. I don’t seek to evoke the fear these characters aim to inspire, but the fear of the people inside the costume- their own fear of of being unmasked. My world brings together the familiar and unfamiliar. Harnessing the ambiguous reality within painting, I seek to build a tunnel between the literal and the imagined. As a magical realist I seek the divine in the pedestrian, and the pedestrian in the divine. Costumed figures and manufactured environments clash with reality, inside the singular dimension of the canvas where the real and unreal become one.
BIO - Woodrow White is a painter from and based in Los Angeles, CA. He utilizes monsters, movies, and the practice of make-believe in his work to explore the layers of the human psyche. His work often features mysterious beings inhabiting dramatically lit landscapes, usually painted in either acrylic or gouache. He is also a freelance illustrator and makes short films.