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William Bailey

October 18 - November 24, 2007

GREEN LINE, 2006, Oil on linen

GREEN LINE, 2006

Oil on linen

16 x 20 inches

40.64 x 50.8 cm

WB11465

CEREMONY, 2006, Oil on linen

CEREMONY, 2006

Oil on linen

40 x 48 inches

101.6 x 121.92 cm

WB11483

POSING, 2007, Oil on linen

POSING, 2007

Oil on linen

24 x 18 x 3/4 inches

60.96 x 45.72 x 1.91 cm

WB12150

WHITE TOWER, 2007, Oil on canvas

WHITE TOWER, 2007

Oil on canvas

21 3/8 x 25 3/4 inches

54.29 x 65.41 cm

WB12256

RED WALL, 2007, Oil on linen

RED WALL, 2007

Oil on linen

50 x 60 x 1 1/8 inches

127 x 152.4 x 2.86 cm

WB12148

DOGLIO, 2007, Oil on canvas

DOGLIO, 2007

Oil on canvas

36 x 39 inches

91.44 x 99.06 cm

WB12257

Press Release

Thursday, October 18th – Saturday, November 24th

Opening reception: Thursday, October 18th, 6-8 P.M.

On Thursday, October 18th, Betty Cuningham Gallery will present an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by William Bailey. 

Bailey is best known for his paintings of singular vessels arranged on table tops or ledges below large expanses of muted toned walls.  The cups, bowls, jugs and egg cups, which may indeed exist, are painted from memory, described with a poignancy that sets the paintings outside of time and place. The monochrome expanses of the walls, which signify a minimalist eye and brush, further remove the works from any suggestion of a real setting. This is similarly true of Bailey’s paintings of female figures. The women are not artist’s models but are painted entirely from imagination.  They are posed sitting or standing in strange interiors looking out at the viewer. They are often nude and set almost weightlessly in their imaginary rooms.

All these works, for Bailey, are abstract.  They do not pretend to be realistically described.  The shadows may be a little off, the corners of the walls not quite right. The figures beg just about every question one can think.

Click below for full press release.