TOM BUTLER | Absentees

About

Private View Thursday November 21st 6.30-8.30pm Sponsored by Jeremiah Weed Kentucky Style Cider Brew Exhibition Dates Friday November 22nd — Saturday December 21st 2013 Gallery Hours Wednesday—Saturday 11am—6pm or by appointment CHARLIE SMITH london is delighted to present Tom Butler with his first one person exhibition at the gallery, following extremely successful debuts at Volta Basel and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT where he was placed in world class private collections. Butler is most recognised for his ongoing series of painted calling cards. Used widely from the mid-19th century after the invention of albumen prints by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, the cabinet card remains a familiar visual object. Butler relentlessly collects these cards and works over the surface in immaculately rendered gouache. His unique and technically consummate approach makes him a leading proponent in this genre. Balanced delicately between beauty and the grotesque, Butler works seamlessly over the faces of the sitters, where they become overtaken by hair; feathered or mottled surfaces; and more recently bandages or geometric patterns. Occasionally features of the subject remain unpainted, asserting the presence of the subject from beneath some parasitic growth that appears to emanate from within. There are clear allusions to a visualisation of the unconscious where the monstrous becomes apparent. Contemporaneous to the use of cabinet cards were the psychoanalytical theories of Freud and the high point of public interest in freak shows, and Butler recalls these areas of interest simultaneously. Butler uses the same technique with etchings and postcards. The compositions of these appropriated images are more complex, which encourages the artist to express a macabre sense of humour, revealing a satirical approach towards art historical, religious and domestic scenarios. Throughout, anonymity is forced upon the subjects where the artist denies their identity with the assertion of his own imagination. Please contact gallery for images and further information Biographical: Born: 1979 Education: 2005-2007: MFA Sculpture, Slade School of Fine Art, London; 2002-2005: BA (Hons) Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art, London; 1997-2000: BA (Hons) History of Art and Design, Southampton University, Southampton Selected Exhibitions: 2013: Absentees (Solo), CHARLIE SMITH london, London; ; Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4's New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT, B1, Victoria House, London; Nervous Energy, Tom Butler & Kate Russo, Engine, Biddeford, Maine; VOX IX, Vox Populi, Philadelphia; Discernible, ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London; 2012: Curio (Solo), Charlie Dutton Gallery, London; CMCA Biennial, Centre for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine; Art to Collect Now: 35th Annual Benefit Auction, Exhibition Centre for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine; ZAP Launch Exhibition: Collectible, ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London; 2011 : Aedas Presents: Tom Butler (Solo), Aedas Architects, Birmingham; The Grotesques (Solo), Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, Oregon; Postcards from Paris, Weisz Studio, London; Collections: Jon Edwards, United States; Bruce Brown, United States; The Sà ËœR Rusche Collection, Germany; Steve Shane, United States; University of Maine, Museum of Art, United States; Private collections in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom & United States