Ian Shults The Social Contract
September 20, 2011 EXHIBITIONS, UPCOMING
On View October 15 – November 26, 2011
“Paintings forge fine art and the profane to tell sordid tales of debauchery with a sly sense of humor. His paintings recall a bygone era when the sheen of the American Dream dulled, and subversive behavior of illicit drugs and kinky benders were swept under the rug.” – John Trippe, Fecal Face 2011
Based in Austin Texas, Ian Shults is a self-taught fine artist with a strong background in sculpture and drawing. The art of Ian Shults is composed of opposing elements depicting and enacting a dialogue of social relations, which surface as paint and flesh. Ian creates scenes of ambiguity, allowing the viewer to digest the suggestive nature of his work with undirected conviction. He examines disciplinary practices of figuration, manipulating notions of physicality, both sexual and intimate. Challenging himself to paint without influence of personal bias and social stigma, Ian comments on historical approaches between commodified female nudity and the predatory counterpart.
Ian Shults remarks on interpersonal relations and the lost intimacy through the dialogue of sex. Fragmented moments within his paintings recall reluctant memories pieced back together, creating something agonizingly cryptic. His use of flat color, paint application, and composition gives his audience a view into the faded reality of memory. Ian’s work contains a specific repertoire of gestures, postures, and spatial relationships, which form a cohesive visual conversation. Shults pays homage to Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud by using his own gesture manifesting a desire to reach, strain, and augment the body.
