TImothy Callaghan
Biography
From http://www.timothycallaghan.com/
"My paintings are about space, the physical space of my immediate environment and the flat space that defines twentieth-century painting. And since the practice of painting predominantly concerns the physical act of seeing, I approach my work with this in mind. I locate myself within the traditions of genre painting, such as landscape or still life, seeking to sustain the part of the practice of painting that relies upon optical elements that reinforce significance and joy.
"I am acutely aware of the landscape that surrounds me. The Rust Belt and the plight of urban sprawl is a narrative that has always been important to me. It affects my perceptual approach to painting and continues to motivate my work.
"The paintings are grounded in the practice of drawing. I use drawing to document and catalog what I see in my everyday life. The drawings are relatively small compared to the paintings and represent the first part of an editing process. The transition from paper to canvas is awkward and exciting I aspire to capture and retain its engaging sense of activity throughout the life of a painting. I want the tension and quality of an in-progress work to be evident when the painting is finished.
"I deny myself the aid of photography or other source material and rely solely on memory to enable a direct path to a subjective, personally honest image. I use clear primers to the maintain integrity of surface and color of the ground. I employ vocabularies taken from the history of painting and my own painting marks to investigate how meaning emerges from appearance.
"As a student of the arts, they affect almost every aspect of my daily life from consumption and leisure to politics and production. It seems to me that there are two distinct approaches to the role of the artist in relation to the history of art. The first, born out the conditions of modernity, is an overwhelming desire to change or bring something new to the practice or medium in which one works. The second is to aspire to contribute to the traditions that provide a foundation and inspire. In my choice, I have found that connecting to the artists of the past liberates my studio practice. In one way it is following, but it also leads into the present."
Timothy Callaghan earned his MFA from Kent State University, Kent, OH, and BFA in Painting from The Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH. He has shown at Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York City; William Busta Gallery, Cleveland; Zygote Press, Cleveland; and 1300 Gallery, Cleveland, among others.
