Eric Wall’s paintings explore the materiality of the canvas and challenge our expectations of what a painting is expected to be. His paintings are meticulously hand-cut using a hobby knife. A single painting is often stretched, painted, unstretched, hand-cut, painted, restretched, and painted again. They reach a state of resolution through this repetitive process of addition and subtraction. In the end, there is often more canvas removed, than what remains for the audience to the observer. The remaining swaths of canvas cast shadows on the walls behind.
Wall has been challenging the boundaries of a painting throughout his career. With his most recent paintings, he’s shown how to break the restraints of the surface and the supports in painting. He has also introduced an expansive potential in a painting by pushing these edges and questioning his medium.
Born in 1979. Eric Wall is an American-Swedish artist, currently living in Denver, Colorado.
Image: Eric Wall, Blue Flag, 2018, Acrylic on hand-cut canvas, 150x130cm
(updated 2022)
BOLT Residency
