Fred Stonehouse
Possum, 2015
Koplin Del Rio, Fred Stonehouse, Many, Myth, Monster, May 11, 2015 - July 11. 2015
PRESS RELEASE:
May 2015
Fred Stonehouse: Man, Myth, Monster & Devils and the Dead
Exhibition Dates: May 30 – July 11, 2015
Koplin Del Rio is pleased to announce its seventh solo exhibition of work by Fred Stonehouse, “Man, Myth, Monster and Devils and Dead.” The show features a series of intimate portrait paintings that incorporate reoccurring themes and characters, as well as explore new mediums with the use of found vintage photographs.
This new body of work, conceived specifically for this show at Koplin Del Rio Gallery, is actually two distinct but related groups of portraits. “Man, Myth, Monster” consists of ten panel paintings in heavy 19th century frames that riff on the traditional portrait format but the sitters are characters from my personal mythic universe. They range from an almost realist portrait of a saint caught between earth and the grave, to a mythological creature with the head of a dog.
I have a long-standing interest in the portrait format. I think that something of its immediate accessibility allows me to take liberties and simultaneously reinforce the believability of my characters. Maybe it’s a way to lend them legitimacy, for who would go to the trouble to create a portrait of a fiction?
- Fred Stonehouse
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Fred Stonehouse earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he now teaches. His work has been shown in numerous galleries as well as several museum group exhibitions, including recent shows internationally in Germany and Italy, and nationally at The Laguna Art Museum, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, San Jose Museum of Art, The Art Center in Wisconsin, and the Cincinnati Art Center in Ohio. He currently resides just outside Milwaukee. Stonehouse is the recipient of many prestigious awards including The Joan Mitchell Foundation award, the Wisconsin Institute of Visual Arts Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Endowment for the Arts, Midwest Fellowship award.