BIO
Philip Buller was born to American diplomat parents in Delhi, India in 1954, but spent his youth mostly in northern Virginia and his ancestral home of New England. Buller moved to northern California in the late 80ʼs. He received his BA in Painting and Drawing from Sonoma State University in 1992. Upon receiving his MFA from California College of Art in 1994, he taught private lessons and art classes at Santa Rosa Junior College for 10 years.
During this time Buller spent each summer in the Mediterranean, teaching painting retreats in Italy and Greece. His work reflects his respect and admiration for the Renaissance and Baroque masters while including references to photography, printmaking and other more contemporary processes.
In 2006 Buller moved to Galiano Island in British Columbia where, in addition to continuing his evolving painting practice, he has built a home and studios for himself and his wife, Janet Adler, the noted teacher of the Discipline of Authentic Movement. Buller is represented in the UK, Canada, and the US. His work is in public and private collections.
In Studio
STATEMENT
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. I try to remember that the meaning, if there is any at all, will emerge in its 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.
Philip Buller, 2014
CURRICULUM VITAE
EXHIBITIONS
2018 Images of Ourselves, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, Utah
2017 Human Patterns, Galiano Library, Galiano Island, British Columbia
2017 Human Patterns, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2016 Ice, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, Utah
2015 Summer Show, Madison Gallery, LaJolla, CA
2015 New Works, Quidley & Company Fine Art, Nantucket, MA
2014 Used Paintings, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 An Other, Quidley & Company Fine Art Gallery, Boston, MA
2012 Every One, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Narrative Fragments, Quidley & Company Fine Art Gallery, Boston, MA
2011 Pace, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA
2010 Vulnerability, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Inside Passage, Susan Street Fine Art, Solana Beach, CA
2009 In The Mines, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, Utah
2008 Every Little Act, Susan Street Fine Art Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
2008 North, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, Utah
2007 Ancestor, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Looking In, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, Utah
2006 Seeing, Susan Street Fine Art Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
2005 Recognition, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 Being Found, Susan Street Fine Art Gallery, Solana Beach, CA
2004 The Colourful Darkness, Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2003 Details, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Alumni Show, Sonoma State University Gallery, Rohnert Park, CA
2003 In The Crowd, Shorenstein, Bank of America Headquarters, San Francisco, CA
2003 Figures and Fantasies, Anne Bradford Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
2002 Emergence, Anne Bradford Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
2001 Exchange, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 Three Trees, Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, CA
2000 New Paintings, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 Recent Work, pastels, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 Faculty Show, Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA
1998 New Work, Adjunct Faculty Show, Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA
1998 New Paintings, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 That Figures, Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, CA
1998 Slide Registry Show, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, CA
1998 In Italia, Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, CA
1997 Curated Working from the Body, Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA
1996 New Paintings, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995 Reflections on Water, Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, CA
1995 Adjunct Faculty Show, Santa Rosa Junior College Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA
1995 New Talent, Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA
1994 Alumni Show, Sonoma State University Gallery, Rohnert Park, CA
1994 MFA Show, Oliver Art Center, MFA Exhibition, Oakland, CA
1991 Rural Light, Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, CA
1991 Recent Paintings, Bodega Landmark Studios, Bodega, CA
1991 Student Show, Sonoma State University Gallery, Rohnert Park, CA
1990 Warner Roberts Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
1987 Berkshire Artisans Gallery, Pittsfield, MA
1986 Thornes Gallery, Northampton, MA
1986 Warner Roberts Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
1986 Phillip Barber Gallery, Becket, MA
1985 Church Street Cafe, Lenox, MA
1985 Woods Hole Gallery, Woods Hole, MA
1985 Phillip Barber Gallery, Becket, MA
1985 The Underground Gallery, Lenox, MA
1985 Lenox Arts Festival, Lenox, MA
1984 Phillip Barber Gallery, Becket, MA
1984 Church Street Cafe, Lenox, MA
1984 Hopetown Gallery, Hopetown, Bahamas
COLLECTIONS & COMMISSIONS
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA
Opus West, San Jose, CA
Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, CA
N.E.C. Electronics Inc. Mountain View, CA
The Indus Group, San Francisco, CA
Nordstrom, San Francisco, CA and Canada
Kaiser Permanente, San Raphael and Santa Rosa, CA
Sutro and Company, Santa Rosa, CA
Berkshire Bank and Trust, Pittsfield, MA
Great Barrington Savings Bank, Great Barrington, MA
El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA
Bloomindales, San Francisco, CA and New York, NY
Horseshoe Casino, Cincinnati, OH
Saint Regis Hotel, Park City, Utah
Opus West, San Jose, CA
El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA
Robert Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
Nordstrom, San Francisco, CA
William Blue, Morro Bay, CA
Gray Hartley, Nipomo, CA
Roosevelt family, NY
PUBLICATIONS
Robert Pincus. In the Spirit of Velasquez. The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 2, 2006
Barbara Morris. Critic's Picks San Francisco. Art Limited, February 2017
TEACHING
1995-present Private Painting, Freestone Studio: Freestone, CA and Galiano Island, BC
1995-present Retreats in Tuscany, Italy and Andros, Greece
1994-2004 Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA
1990-1996 Sonoma State University, Extended Education Department, Rohnert Park, CA
1995-1998 Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA
1980-1987 Heartwood Owner-Builder School, Washington, MA
1980-1987 Becket Arts Center of the Hilltowns, Becket, MA
EDUCATION
1994 M.F.A., California College of Arts and Crafts; Oakland, CA
1992 B.A. Studio Art & Painting, Sonoma State University; Rohnert Park, CA
1985 Illustration, The Illustrators Studio; Northampton, MA
1973-1987 Graphic design & Painting, Berkshire Community College; Pittsfield, MA