Liam Everett: The ground,

Jan 16 - Mar 2, 2024
  • "As the ground luminosity dawns at death, an experienced practitioner will maintain full awareness and merge with it, thereby attaining liberation."
     
    —        Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
  • Altman Siegel is pleased to present The ground, an exhibition of new paintings marking Liam Everett's fifth solo exhibition with the gallery. Engaging with questions regarding the influence of authorship, environment, and collective consciousness, this new body of work represents a significant aesthetic shift for the artist evolving from moments of chaos, growth, and discomfort. Atmospheric and layered, Everett's paintings search for and amplify a sense of ambiguity, seeking the obliteration of ego.
    • Liam Everett Untitled (unmade), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 52 1/2 x 37 1/2 in 133.3 x 95.3 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (unmade), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      52 1/2 x 37 1/2 in
      133.3 x 95.3 cm
      Inquire
    • Liam Everett Untitled (yours to find, the ground), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 70 1/2 x 70 1/2 in 179.1 x 179.1 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (yours to find, the ground), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      70 1/2 x 70 1/2 in
      179.1 x 179.1 cm
      Inquire

  • Like the stage, which is easily manipulated by light and space, Everett's paintings are mutable to their surroundings. Shifting as the light changes throughout the day, they appear subtly transformed from moment to moment. Their varnished surfaces reflect light, creating a transparency that allows the paintings to generate their own luminosity, suggesting a certain quality of light that is uniquely specific to the marine layers and coastal landscape of Northern California, where they are made. At the borders of many of the works, raw canvas serves as a referential point - a reminder of the illusion of depth, and a glimpse of the many layers of color embedded in the dense surfaces. Like the moment at the end of a play when the house lights come up, revealing that each set was built upon a stage, these swaths of empty space serve as both a register and reminder that Everett's paintings are born from a lineage of repetitive actions.
  • View of Liam Everett's studio in Sebastopol, California, 2023.
    • Liam Everett Untitled (entre le bruit), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 79 x 58 in 200.7 x 147.3 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (entre le bruit), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      79 x 58 in
      200.7 x 147.3 cm
      Inquire
    • Liam Everett Untitled (uisce naofa), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on vinyl 79 x 58 in 200.7 x 147.3 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (uisce naofa), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on vinyl
      79 x 58 in
      200.7 x 147.3 cm
      Inquire
    • Liam Everett Untitled (descendent), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 79 x 52 1/2 in 200.7 x 133.3 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (descendent), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      79 x 52 1/2 in
      200.7 x 133.3 cm
      Inquire
    • Liam Everett Untitled (avec les alouettes), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 91 1/2 x 65 1/2 in 232.4 x 166.4 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (avec les alouettes), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      91 1/2 x 65 1/2 in
      232.4 x 166.4 cm
      Inquire
    • Liam Everett Untitled (until the bones sang, scattered and shining), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 53 1/2 x 112 in 135.9 x 284.5 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (until the bones sang, scattered and shining), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      53 1/2 x 112 in
      135.9 x 284.5 cm
      Inquire
  • In contrast to previous series in which color and gesture flowed from one work into the next, these paintings evolved...
    View of Liam Everett's studio in Sebastopol, California, 2023.

    In contrast to previous series in which color and gesture flowed from one work into the next, these paintings evolved one at a time, with Everett taking on the role of custodian. This approach allows him to create situations in which the materials of the painting interact in ways that he sets in motion but does not overtly control. Building layers of ink, oil, and sand, one on top of the next, he allows the caustic materials to assert themselves, slowly reacting to one another. Through sequences of events and repetitions, these materials create unique environments on the surface of the canvas, spurring processes of procreation and diminishing the hand of the maker. Because they do not come from any source or reference, Everett does not consider the resulting works abstractions. Rather, his new paintings offer unique, regenerative moments, encompassing the interconnectedness of our environment.
    • Liam Everett Untitled (her first rain), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on vinyl 58 x 36 1/2 in 147.3 x 92.7 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (her first rain), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on vinyl
      58 x 36 1/2 in
      147.3 x 92.7 cm
      Inquire
    • Liam Everett Untitled (a choir of one), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 64 x 91 in 162.6 x 231.1 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (a choir of one), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      64 x 91 in
      162.6 x 231.1 cm
      Inquire
    • Liam Everett Untitled (the opposite), 2023 Ink, oil, sand on linen 36 1/2 x 24 1/2 in 92.7 x 62.2 cm
      Liam Everett
      Untitled (the opposite), 2023
      Ink, oil, sand on linen
      36 1/2 x 24 1/2 in
      92.7 x 62.2 cm
      Inquire
  •
  • Press
  • Liam Everett's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Mennour, Paris, France and London, UK; Galerie Greta Meert,...
    Photography by Marie Tollon

    Liam Everett's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Mennour, Paris, France and London, UK; Galerie Greta Meert, Brussels, Belgium; Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA; Kasmin, New York, NY; Musée des Beaux Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France; Galerie Art & Essai, Université de Rennes, Rennes, France; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens, Greece; Office Baroque, Brussels, Belgium; and White Columns, New York, NY. Group exhibitions include Rachel Uffner, New York, NY; Fondation Carmignac, Paris, France; Galeria Nara Roesler, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; Arndt, Singapore; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA; Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA; Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA; and Canada, New York, NY. Everett is curating The uncarved block with Jonathan Griffin opening at Galerie Greta Meert in February 2025.
Back to exhibitions