BIOGRAPHY
Brian Truesdale first became aware of abstract art as a teenager. Going through books in his high school art classes, the images he saw of Abstract Expressionism were bold and frightening. The sources of passions and nightmares. He was mesmerized, and that fascination led him to take an open studio abstract painting class at a crucial point in his adult life when he sought to channel his emotions and embrace his identity. Brian also had the good fortune at the time to meet several wonderful local artists who helped him to first develop his artistic language.
Brian spent several years painting and drawing obsessively, soaking up art books and visiting museums. He’d wander through the gallery spaces, staring deep into the pieces to decipher their secrets until he had to force himself to leave in a daze of wonder and intimidation.
Brian’s education has been informal and largely a process of self-searching, probing his mind and feelings. He’s reached a point of confidence in his work where he feels that it’s his own, though the search has only begun. Brian is an emerging artist ready to engage with the larger artistic world.
CV
Education:
Individual classes, Delaplaine Visual Arts Center (Frederick, MD), 2012 – 2016
Informal critiques with Johan Lowie, Calvin Edward Ramsburg
Member:
Foundry Gallery (Co-Op), Washington, DC, 2016-2018, 2021 – Present
The Artists Gallery (Co-Op), Frederick, MD, 2016-2018
Articles/Publications:
Ligeia Magazine (Winter 2020): https://www.ligeiamagazine.com/winter-2020/
Captiol Hill Arts Workshop (April 2018): https://www.chaw.org/blog/mind-artist-part-xxvii-brian-truesdale
Solo Exhibitions:
• TBD, Gallery Blue Door, Baltimore, MD, October – December 2022
• “My Screaming Dreams,” Frederick Community College, Frederick, MD, April 2022
• “The Agony of Calm,” Arts Club of Washington, Washington, D.C., February 2022
• “Fates & Abandoned Furies,” Washington County Arts Council, Hagerstown, MD, January 2021
• “A Sudden Slip Off the Rim,” Expanding Heart Center, Frederick, MD, March – June 2020
• “Hidden Wonder,” Blanche Ames Gallery, Frederick, MD, November 2017
• “Continuum,” Frederick Community College, Frederick, MD, November 2016
• “Emergence,” Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center, Frederick, MD, August 2016
Juried Exhibitions:
• “9 for 19 (National),” First Street Gallery, New York, NY, January 2022 – Group juried exhibit of nine selected artists exhibiting multiple pieces
• “Drawing: The Eloquence of Line (Regional),” Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg, MD, November 2021 – January 2022
• “Artists’ Choice (Regional),” Foundry Gallery, Washington, D.C., August 2021
• “Dreams and Nightmares (National),” Gallery Underground, Arlington, VA, February 2021 – Juror: Emily Francisco, internationally exhibited sculptress
• “PaperWest (National),” Gittins Gallery (Dept of Art & Art History), University of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT, October – November 2019
Group Exhibitions:
• “Consilience,” Carroll County Arts Council, Westminster, MD, January – February 2020
• “A Burning Winter Dance,” Gallery B, Bethesda, MD, December 2018
• “Entanglement,” 505 North Gallery, Frederick, MD, October 2018
STATEMENT
The blank surface is a source of fear and transcendence. My art is a continuous search to find the key to the mystery of lines, color, and texture built up in layers of passion, humor, anger, and solace. I seek to find and develop the focal point, like a beacon in the chaotic noise of life. My process requires periods of study and reflection alternating with periods of intense application. I believe in balancing outbursts of spontaneity, which bring a piece alive, with deliberate refinements that bring focus and clarity. I may paint or draw a single line or mark repeatedly, scraping away the edges with my finger, repeating the obliteration and restoration until what I see has the right intensity and rhythm. It’s what the abstract artist sees in these layers that defines their unique language.My art has a conscious process, but it’s not just an intellectual exercise. It’s about the feeling or emotional response you get from viewing the work. The great rewards of art are the sharing of the human spirit and the experience of sensation and discovery. So much in this life is so distant and disconnected that if a piece is compelling, if it can elicit a visceral response in a viewer, then it has succeeded.
