About Philip Buller

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Exhibitions  (* One-man Shows)

2008

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"Every Little Act", Susan Street Fine Art, Solana Beach,  California
2007

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"Ancestry", Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco,  California
2007

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"Looking In", Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, Utah
2006 * "Seeing", Susan Street Fine Art, Solana Beach, California
2006   "Figures", Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, Utah
2005 * "Recognition" Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, California
2005 * "Being Found" Susan Street Fine Art, Solana Beach, California
2004 * "The Colorful Darkness", Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2004   Two-person Show, Anne Bradford Gallery, Healdsburg, California
2003
* "Details", Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, California 
2003 * "In the Crowd", Bank of America Headquarters, San Francisco, California 
2002   "Emergence", Anne Bradford Gallery, Healdsburg, California 
 
"Small Works Show", A.P.E. Ltd. Northhampton, Massachusetts
2001 * "Exchange", Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, California 
2000 * "New Paintings", Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, California
1999   "Recent Work", pastels, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, 
San Francisco, California 
1998 * "New Work", Adjunct Faculty Show, Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery
 
"New Paintings", Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, California 
 
"That Figures", Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, California 
 
"Slide Registry Show", California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California 
   * "In Italia", Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, California 
1997
  Curator "Working from the Body", Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery
1996   "New Paintings", Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, California
1995 "Reflections on Water", Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, California

"Adjunct Faculty Show", Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery, Santa Rosa, California 

"New Talent", Alpha Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 
1994   "Alumni Show", Sonoma State University Gallery, Rohnert Park, California

"MFA Show", Oliver Art Center, MFA Exhibition, Oakland, California 
  * "Rural Light", Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, California 
1991 * "Recent Paintings", Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, California 

"Student Show", Sonoma State University Gallery, Rohnert Park, California 
1990 * Warner Roberts Gallery, Palo Alto, California 
1987 Berkshire Artisans Gallery, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 
1986 Thornes Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts 
Warner Roberts Gallery, Palo Alto, California 
   * Phillip Barber Gallery, Becket, Massachusetts 
1985 Church Street Cafe, Lenox, Massachusetts 
    Woods Hole Gallery, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 
  * Phillip Barber Gallery, Becket, Massachusetts 
The Underground Gallery, Lenox, Massachusetts 
Lenox Arts Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts 
1984 * Phillip Barber Gallery, Becket, Massachusetts 
  * Church Street Cafe, Lenox, Massachusetts 
Hopetown Gallery, Hopetown, Bahamas 

Artist Statement       printer friendly version

"I apply paint, remove paint - creating and obscuring forms. A form must be fully realized before it can be obscured. The ambiguity of a blurred image often encourages me to reach below a literal interpretation of form.
 
When this happens, it is less possible to grab onto a specific image and I am then compelled to remain within the realm of experience rather than the realm of reproduction. In this process my own engagement as a viewer guides me toward receiving the image rather than identifying it by naming it or placing it in a psychological or historical context.

What makes this process so challenging for me is that the evolution of the paintings themselves seems to resist conscious intention, and yet my desire is to access my own direct experience of them. I have faith that the meaning, if there is any at all, will emerge in it's own time, leaving me with an awareness that the work cannot be hurried. When the painting is resolved, I feel as though something has arrived, like a fruit in an orchard, visible as an organic thing. In such moments I know that the painting is itself the meaning.

When I am engaged in the painting process, I am of course conscious of the sensations, thoughts, and associations. But rather than following them into the quagmire of willful, even enthusiastic intention toward constructing a certain meaning, I try to instead wait to be touched in a certain way; my feelings have to be stirred. Anything could spark deep feelings, but at this time, the human form seems to be the most direct pathway.

On those occasions when immersion in my intuitive experience is not working, when the whole process becomes most maddening, I am grateful to rely completely on the discipline of my painting practice. When I don't know what to do, I simply deepen my commitment to applying paint to canvas."

     

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