 Bill Travis Desire Desire: The word comes from the Latin desidero, meaning "I long for the stars" - an etymology that invites us to think of the human body as the night sky, a thing of beauty to be seen, not held. Once satisfied, however, desire ceases to exist; to desire is to reach for stars and yearn for the impossible. Taking the sensual male nude as its point of departure, this show depicts men in imaginary constellations, moving them from their natural, earthbound environment to a dark and suggestive space. Highly abstracted, the stars seem to emanate from the men and swirl around them like an emotion or an energy made visible. The figures' splendid isolation gives them a monumental quality, as if they hovered above us, just out of reach. The artist creates these images using an innovative combination of photography and painting, where digital prints go through successive manipulations with oil paint, gold, and other substances. Blending techniques in this way allows Travis to give his work the specificity of photography and the warmth of painting; it is neither one nor the other, but both, simultaneously. The hand manipulation means, too, that each image is a unique edition, not a multiple as in most photography. After earning his Ph.D., Travis taught art history for several years before taking up fine art photography on a full-time basis. He has exhibited in many New York venues, has shown in the Museo de la FotografÌa in San Rafael, Argentina, and will have a solo exhibition in Paris later this year. Exhibition: February 1 - 26, 2005 Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 11am - 6pm Amos Eno Gallery 530 West 25th Street, 6th Floor USA-New York, NY 10001 Telephone +1 212 226.5342 Email amoseno@bway.net www.amosenogallery.org |
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