Richmond Burton : The Horizon Paintings

From May 4 through June 4, 2007, The Drawing Room in East Hampton is pleased to present "Richmond Burton: The Horizon Paintings", a new series of densely patterned oils on panel with striking prismatic light effects.

Each of Burton’s small horizontal panels from the current series is divided into two predominant color zones that meet along a horizon line and evoke references to the sea and sky of East Hampton where he has lived and worked since 1998. Powerful and autonomous as abstractions, they are also lyrical evocations of water and refracted light in palettes which range from indigo blues overlaid with white and gold accents, to hot reds punctuated by aqua and lavender. The nuanced tension in the flickering surface is built from short brushstrokes, which, like fleeting waves, capture both light and depths of color across the shimmering picture plane. Each composition includes a tapered band of silver pigment along the lower edge, which acts as both an invitation to enter the space of the painting and an assertive reminder of its illusory nature.

Burton was born in Talladega, Alabama in 1960. After studying architecture at Rice University, he spent his first years in New York working for IM Pei and Associates. While working for Pei, he began to pursue painting, and in 1987 had his first solo show in Manhattan. Burton is represented by Cheim & Read in New York where he has been the subject of four solo shows since joining the gallery in 1997. His work is included in numerous museum collections, among them The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

See below for full press release and selected works.