Richard Bosman
rough terrain

Jan 5 – Feb 3, 2007

Opening: Friday Jan 5th, 6-8 pm

The Elizabeth Harris Gallery is pleased to present Rough Terrain an exhibition of paintings by Richard Bosman . The Gallery is located at 529 West 20 th Street , 6 th floor, and is open Tuesday through Saturday 11-6. There will be a reception for the artist on Friday, January 5, from 6-8.

Richard Bosman 's new paintings were all completed during 2006 in his studio located in the foothills of the Catskills. These paintings consider the relationship of human beings to the extremities and dangers of the natural world, particularly in winter. Drawing on stories of survival from literature, newspaper articles and television, Bosman describes an overwhelming landscape in which the human form is reduced in scale and importance. In Ice Climber , 2006 a miniature figure struggles to scale exquisitely painted icy cliffs and calls to mind a long shot of terrain from adventure films. The other paintings in the group include instances of desperation, search and rescue.

Thematically the paintings in Rough Terrain hearken back to Bosman's work in the 80's, rather than the ‘ Americana ' series which have been the main themes of his last several exhibitions. His paint handling in this new group also differs in that he works much more thinly, retaining his expressiveness as before, resulting in greater economy of medium. This gives the surface a sense of flatness more pervasive than previously seen in Bosman's work.

Richard Bosman lives and works in Esopus , New York , and has been exhibiting since 1980. His work is in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art , the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.