·         March 6th - March 27th, 2020

Ian Burcroff was educated in art at SUNY Plattsburgh and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks where he received an MFA in Painting. From there he became Fine Arts Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Art as well as a stint as Humanities Department Chair at SUNY Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh, NY.  Burcroff has had an impressive amount of solo painting exhibits and has contributed artwork to a number of group painting shows across North America including locations such as the Studio Place Arts in Barre VT, SEABA Gallery in Burlington, VT, The Annex Gallery in Fairbanks, AK, Kirkland Art Center in Clinton, NY, and The Strand Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh, NY.

Definition of Precarity for the show:

The show title Precarity refers to the fragile nature of our current times; formally, these paintings reflect the notion that a spirit of predictability no longer governs our sense of time and place. Precarity itself defines a lack of regularity, or shifting movements, in our social and political sphere. Relating this theme to my work, precarity can be seen in the formal arrangement of shapes, colors, and forms. Lacks any patterned cohesion and featuring compositions that are unencumbered by any traditional constraint, imagery can reach the edge of compositional integrity while still demonstrating a strong sense of control.

The paintings are acrylic on canvas with varying dimensions.  The largest painting in my current series is 60” x 40”; the smallest is 20”x 24”. Each painting has a spirit of individuality; acrylic paint allows me to respond to the work with a diversity of approaches.  The paintings are flat with multiple layers of paint in evidence. Despite hard edges and flat colors, each painting has a worked appearance. Shape, line, and color dominate the compositions, although fragments of carefully modeled realism are layered into the design, creating an unmistakable collaged appearance. I value craft as well as concept. Influences include Fernand Leger, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, James Rosenquist and David Salle.

 Artist Statement

My recent paintings involve a process of pictorial dissection that build to create a complex overall visual impact.  Each composition contains multiple visual fields that contain pictorial impressions of places and objects; metaphorically relating these to broader symbolic themes.

Each painting is approached with a spirit of improvisation.  Very little is planned or drawn beforehand. The images consist of fragmented concepts both real and imagined that give a sense of movement within a two-dimensional space.  Information is layered and often stacked on top of patterns and color fields; creating rapid visual changes. Paint application differs in areas of the canvas; it can be additive or subtractive, painstaking or expressive.  Each painting is carefully “built” and is constructed almost like a puzzle.

The paintings evolve according to an individualized process that involves constant editing. This process relies on the intense hues, plasticity and quick-drying properties of acrylic paint.  Each painting has layers and layers of painted imagery under the finished composition.  This “editing” process feels natural to me, and seems to heighten the tension within each composition. Even the smallest painting may take a month or more to complete.  In terms of hours spent working in the studio, each painting usually has 50 hours or more invested. These compositions are not easy to create. The process is laborious and introspective; 10 paintings may represent 2 or more years of steady work. I paint one painting at a time until it feels finished.