New York, NY – September 6, 2017 – Wheelchair bound street artist B.D. White celebrated his first solo show Love, Loss & Longing at Castle Fitzjohns Gallery (89 Orchard Street, NYC) with an opening night cocktail reception from 7 PM to 10 PM last night Thursday September 7, 2017. The exhibit, which runs through October 10, 2017, is free and open to the public.
Love, Loss & Longing will feature 24 original works by the Brooklyn-based artist, including a life-sized statue of an astronaut. In addition, there will be 4 original collaboration works and a handful of limited edition screen prints.
From an early age, White knew he would be an artist. What he didn’t count on was at the age of 18 he would break his back in a sports accident. Years of painful rehabilitative treatment followed to no avail and White accepted that he would not walk again. Rather than let this interfere with his artistic goals, he decided to push keep creating!
In 2014, White entered the art scene by painting hundreds of streetlight bases throughout New York City and Brooklyn. His witty social commentary gained him immediate recognition throughout the street art and fine art world. Since then, the Brooklyn-based artist’s work has been shown in an installation in the World Trade Center, as well as in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, and at Art Basel in Miami.
White describes his street art as “mindful vandalism,” beautifying the cityscape one surface at a time, he is excited to have secured his show at Castle Fitjohns Gallery. He has spent the last year working on pieces for his first solo show. “I still do street art as it is part of who I am as an artist. But now that I’m getting older, I would like to avoid being arrested!” laughed the 33-year old, who has been caught four times by the police in the past during his late-night artistic adventures.
Each piece in “Love, Loss & Longing” is a highly detailed stencil painting using between 50 and 80 stencil layers to create the original image. White does not source any of his images and they are 100% original. He photographs the subjects of his paintings and draws all from scratch.
Inspired by the works of Shepard Fairey, White has taken the stencil technique to unprecedented levels of complexity. “I’m trying to really push the limit with what I can do and break a new barrier in the stencil art world. Using foreshortening and strong shadows, I’m able to create a 3D effect where the subject appears to be popping off the canvas.”
For further information go to www.bdwhite.net and/or www.castlefitjohns.com.
