Sam Still - Talking Drawings October 5th- 30th

K Imperial Fine Art is pleased to present Talking Drawings, the latest collection of work by contemporary artist Sam Still. Sam Still is a master of limitations. In using only ink and paper, the artist uses space, geometry, and repetition to craft powerful monochromatic works that command attention and elicit emotion.

Over the years, the artist has steadily refined and distilled his creative approach. His earlier, convoluted circular compositions gave way to darker, more potent works that employed a more restrained and intentional sensibility towards line, motion, and negative space. The elegance, power, and presence of Still’s formal evolution yield stunning compositions that are as incredibly nuanced as they are profoundly simple. Still’s ability to communicate so much so minimally is truly a marvel to behold.

Sam Still states that he “arranges with a conversation in mind.” While some may understand this conversation to be between artist and viewer, medium and substrate, or between light and dark, Still also approaches the word “conversation” quite literally. As the name of this exhibition suggests, the artist indeed makes “talking drawings.” Still speaks narratively through his works while being mindful of the other dynamic “conversations” an artist engages within the process of creating.

While some people may regard minimalist work as strictly aesthetic or separate from the world of emotion, Still uses his shapes as a unique and personal visual lexicon. While authors and poets use words, Still uses form, absence, and presence to tell the tale of some of his most personal trials and experiences. As viewers become more familiar with Sam’s graphical idiolect, a tale of partnership, conflict, confusion, and disunion emerges. In this, Sam achieves the challenge that all artists face — to make work that is personal yet universal, accessible yet mysterious, and all done in a visual language that is authentic to the artist.