MICHAEL BEVILACQUA
What is it That is The Worm Inside of You?
August 19 through September 27, 1997
Jessica Fredericks Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of paintings by Michael Bevilacqua. Mr. Bevilacqua’s work has been seen in It’s Only Rock and Roll at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH (Traveling), The Most Important Thing in the Whole Wide World: Oasis vs. Blur... curated by Bill Arning, and most recently, this gallery’s room at the 1997 New York Gramercy Art Fair. This will be his first one-person exhibition in New York.
Michael Bevilacqua’s sticker paintings follow his ”Kisstory” series, in which an abstract element from the album cover Destroyer became a vehicle for the exploration of his adolescent obsession with the rock band Kiss. Now his meticulously crafted paintings focus on logos and other graphic identifications that allow him to define his world. His baby son becomes Harold and the Purple Crayon, and past and present continually overlap in his connections between everything from Pucci and Gucci, Yellow Submarine and Oasis, to Willy Wonka (of chocolate factory fame) and the Loughton Candidate. Or in the words of the artist:
Dear Jessica and Andrew,
Color and music are such a big part of my life. These paintings are a veritable explosion of graphic design and energy.
Christian Lacroix thought my image for the show in France was shocking!
They are very positive paintings in the sense that I am taking what I learned in High school art class and bringing it to another level.
Cars were another obsession of mine in High school! After surfing we would go by the local body shop and watch the guys paint and detail crazy graphics on cars. Pure color next to pure color with a pinstripe slashing through the center.
It’s amazing to think how long I have been on this train of thought. I really had to get out of California to make these paintings-- it’s been a great (almost) five years. I wrote this @ 3am. Sorry if it’s corny.
Michael
p.s. Burn this after you read it.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm. For further information and/or photographs please contact the gallery by telephone at (212) 633-6555 or fax at (212) 367-9502.