"Heavy Water" Opens Oct 4 at La Luz de Jesus in LA-Deirdre Sullivan Beeman Exclusive Show
Surrealist Painter Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman Offers an Exclusive Exhibit of Paintings Depicting Characters and Femininity in a Unique and Powerful New Way
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Surrealist painter Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman will offer an exclusive limited engagement show titled "Heavy Water" beginning Friday, October 4, 2019 at the famed La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles. The highly anticipated exhibit will showcase an extraordinary collection of her master works. The collection features characters and their sidekicks which have been painted using a combination of 14th century painting techniques and magic realism to create pieces that glow from within.
Celebrating the hard-earned wisdom of childhood, Sullivan-Beeman is known worldwide for depicting subjects that are often young, hauntingly innocent and teetering on the edge of naïveté. The subject of the paintings are often the artist's heroine and come from her own personal dreams which awaken her and allow her to blot the idea or image on paper before the painting takes form.
"Heavy Water" will include thirteen (13) paintings exhibited until Sunday, October 27, 2019. A special VIP sneak peek is scheduled for October 4, 2019 from 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. and official opening night hours are 8:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. Each painting features a heroine's voyage from girlhood to womanhood – and in circles on the way – represent ancient, universal truths that exist far outside the artist's own livelihood.
"I find that the modern femininity I evoke in these paintings offers a forceful and energetic persona to the entire process. I focus on bringing the power I witness in young women and girls to the surface of the paintings birthing amazing storylines." - Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman
"Heavy Water" gives credence to Sullivan-Beeman's desire to have people feel as if they are swimming through her exhibit. To that extent, the paintings will not be hung on the walls of the gallery but rather, suspended from the ceiling as if floating through air. This allows the paintings to feel more interactive and offers a unique perspective on the characters.
In this exhibition, water takes on an additional meaning. The artist notes that water, a seemingly benign substance, sustains all life but can also destroy it. It is a key theme to the entire show in the art, the characters, the set-up and the storylines.
Each painting considers and celebrates a self-assured girl. The grouping is one of the strongest depictions of femininity created by the artist to date. Each female character that is painted has a clear intention and is meant to exhibit an increasingly powerful feminist message. In each composition, the female character is either in control of or on an equal par with her daemon. The trend of this powerful feminist portrayal is reflected in the artist's own self direction and current approach to painting. The exhibit will also feature a more colorful palette of paint used than in prior exhibits of the artist's popular works. Sullivan-Beeman has kept the earth-tone quality of her work but has added pops of color here and there, particularly in blues and pinks. She has also included more landscapes, graphic elements, and a method of oil and egg tempera. A small impression of street art is also noticeable. Each painting also features a 2-dimensional background with intensely 3-D foreground characters
"Alchemy Girl;" "Flamingo Girl;" "Gas Mask Girl;" "Butterfly Girl;" "Snow White Girl;" "Lotus Girl;" "Seahorse Girl;" "Finding Marilyn Girl;" "Flower Girl;" "Hedgehog Girl;" "Giraffe Girl;" "Moon Girl" and "Ascending Girl" make up the extraordinary exhibit. Descriptions of the extraordinary paintings are attached.
Hi res images of the paintings here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p4zpjxicuhbtwuh/AAB_IiYPHA6JccE2yex04YpSa?dl=0
All photo credits: Courtesy Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman
About Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman
Sullivan-Beeman's work has been shown at Haven Gallery in Northport, NY; Stephen Romano Gallery in Brooklyn, NY; The Belskie Museum of Art & Science in Closter, NJ; Phylogeny Contemporary in Seattle, WA; Greg Moon Art in Taos, NM; Merlino Galleria d'Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy; the LA Art Show in Los Angeles, CA, Aqua Art Miami in Miami, FL, "Crime On Canvas" at Life Is Beautiful Music and Art Festival in Las Vegas, NV, Art! Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada; Copro Gallery, Annenberg Community Beach House and La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. She holds a BFA in Cinema/Television Production from the University of Southern California and splits her time between Los Angeles, CA and Vancouver, BC. Sullivan-Beeman is a self-taught figurative and contemporary surrealist painter who combines 14th century painting techniques and magic realism to create pieces that appear to glow from within. She celebrates the hard-earned wisdom of childhood and depicts subjects who are often young, hauntingly innocent, and teetering on the edge of naïveté. Feminist statements and colors are a focus of her most recent works. For more information, go to http://www.sullivanbeeman.com.
Connect with the artist at:
http://www.instagram.com/dsullivanbeeman
http://www.facebook.com/sullivanbeeman
http://www.twitter.com/dsullivanbeeman
Heavy Water
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Friday, October 4, 2019 through Sunday, October 27, 2019
Hours – Monday through Wednesday, 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. PT; Thursday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. PT and Sundays 12 Noon-6:00 p.m. PT.
Press Contact
Caroline Galloway
(440) 591-3807
[email protected]
SOURCE Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman
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