Doug Schneider : Suburban Birthday Party May 7, 2009

Dolby Chadwick Gallery is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition of new paintings by
Douglas Schneider, Suburban Birthday Party.

In this latest group of work Schneider uses imagery from 1950’s Americana and from recent natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. “I use images of suburban America and aging signs from a more innocent time when we were less aware of the impact we were having on the world.” In these paintings Schneider uses the force of the abstract expressionist brush stroke both as an aesthetic and symbolic tool. Schneider’s loose expressionistic brush strokes underlie and overlap photorealistic imagery. Like the path a storm leaves in its wake, the strokes conceal and reveal, wiping out aspects of the imagery and leaving others untouched.

Aesthetically compelling and rich with hidden meaning, the paintings form unfinished narratives, allowing only a glimpse of the story, and leaving the viewer to fill in the rest. Despite the challenging content of Schneider’s imagery, there remains a sense of hopefulness within the work. “I believe there is a sense of beauty and order in chaos. Even in times of uncertainty and imbalance there is resilience to the human spirit. There is a desire and a need to find joy and have fun. That is the approach I took in these paintings.”

Schneider received his BFA from the California College of the Arts. Prior to CCA, Schneider attended The Art Center in Pasadena, CA. He has taught at the Academy of Art University and at CCA. He has exhibited widely throughout the Bay Area and United States and his work is included in many major collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the esteemed collection of Kent and Vicki Logan.

This will be his first solo exhibition at Dolby Chadwick Gallery.

For more information please visit our website at www.dolbychadwickgallery.com or email us at [email protected]

Official Website: http://dolbychadwickgallery.com