The title of Chris Trueman‘s show, “After(image),” betokens the fleeting vivid impressions his paintings convey. Hovering between abstraction and representation, each of his nine vibrant works currently on view at Edward Cella embodies a wide array of marks, evocations and references. Read more on Artillery.

"I would describe my work as a confluence of abstract styles and painting methods that explore the temporality of representation. What I mean is that historically speaking, art in general - and in my case abstract art - has been a marker of time and place; an encapsulation of the ideas that are circulating and social concerns, both philosophically and politically. In Post-War abstract expressionism there was a push toward a non-verbal communication - a more instinctual communication that happened between viewer and object. This relationship calls to be present in the moment. I've thought a lot about those ideas in relation to my work and the world we now live in with incredible technologies as we manage multiple identities simultaneously. So being "present" takes on new meaning and understanding where our online presence is at times, which is as real as our physical reality. With these ideas in mind, I created paintings that combine the contemporary with the historical and they act physically as though they are mediated, despite being handmade and physically occupy the same space with the viewer."

Read the full interview here.

David Hicks & Chris Trueman: New Works
January 30 - March 5, 2016

"Chris Trueman and David Hicks, the two artists currently showcased in the “New Works” exhibition at Edward Cella Art and Architecture in Los Angeles, might seem to be an unlikely pair. They work in drastically different media: Trueman in paint, Hicks in sculpture. Both, however, are carefully attuned to the optical qualities of color, and one finds in both their practices a passion for rich hues and a search for the perfect palette."

Artist Chris Trueman Featured in Issue 121 of New American Paintings. 

David Hicks and Chris Trueman: New Works at Edward Cella Art & Architecture
January 30 - May 5, 2016

"The two-person show format is at its best when an inspiredpairing across time, genre, medium, or era illuminates its components through the alchemy of unlikely allegiance. Such is the curatorial directive behind the arrangement of painter Chris Trueman and sculptor David Hicks, whose juxtaposition highlights, as the press materials gamely assert, the degree to which 'Hicks sculpts with painterliness; and Trueman paints sculpturally.'"

Chris Trueman: Beneath the Skin at Edward Cella Art & Architecture
March 8 - April 26, 2014

"From a distance, the paintings look as if they’ve been slashed, metaphorically, not literally, à la Lucio Fontana. The linear patterns (think Bridget Riley) they create on the surface are dynamic: horizontal or diagonal, they activate the surface tensions that dictate the rhythm of each piece. Sometimes the lines dominate the surface; what’s beneath is barely visible. Other times, the lines become subordinated to what’s beneath. What’s revealed in these hide-and-seek compositions is sensuous." 

Chris Trueman: Beneath the Skin at Edward Cella Art & Architecture
March 8 - April 26, 2014

"The enchanting works, made from acrylic and acrylic spray paint, combine various threads of abstraction for a unique experience that combines the historical debates of painting with a fast-paced sharpness perfect for the short attention span of the internet generation. Combining soft and hard strokes with warm and cool colors, Trueman creates multilayered works thick with contradiction and complexity. We reached out to the California painter to learn more about his upcoming exhibition, 'Beneath the Skin.'"

Chris Trueman: Beneath the Skin at Edward Cella Art & Architecture
March 8 - April 26, 2014

"Chris Trueman is a maximalist. In his exuberant, large-scale paintings, he encompasses the entire history of abstraction, merging Color Field Painting, Abstract Expressionism, and Hard-Edged Geometry in his allover compositions. Intermingling passages of pixilation and color gradation based on computer graphics, his acrylic-on-canvas works seem to be formed of layered scrims. He often begins Abstract Expressionist-style, with bold, lush brushstrokes and generous smears of pigment. Onto this ground he overlays stripes and undulating lines recalling Op Artillusions and screen savers. These run up against sections of saturated color and the drips that became so synonymous with Jackson Pollock."

"It is, in fact, intuitive and often delicate. The paintings’ strips sometimes undulate, or exist only as an absence, as Trueman also uses tape to pull pigment off the canvas. The brush-painted colors look airy, or sometimes watery, offsetting the spray-painted geometric forms."

Chris Trueman: Slipstream at the Lancaster Museum of Art & History
January 26 - March 10, 2013

"In Trueman's color fields, sharp-edged lines propel fields of color with such urgency the strokes are nearly vibrating. The unusual adaptation of science into art illuminates the proximity of the two disciplines with straightforward ease. The exhibition will give science buffs a chance to nerd out on the painted phenomena (and for the rest of us art-minded folk, we can finally understand the meaning of "slipstream.") It's a win-win, really."