B.D. White: I May Not Be One Hundred Percent
To celebrate Black Friday, Guy Hepner and The TAX Collection are pleased to release a new series with B.D. White featuring ten unique hand gilded originals. The series, I May Not Be One Hundred Percent, will be available to shop online at guyhepnereditions.com on Friday November 27th from 2pm EST. Please contact info@guyhepner further details or to enquire about pre-sale opportunities.
B.D. White, a self-proclaimed mindful vandalist with a love for astronauts, has created a world of his own through his artworks. White knew he was going to be an artist from a young age; what he did not expect was to get into a sporting accident at 18 years old that would leave him in a wheelchair. Yet, that has not defined or controlled his desire to create and explore many forms of art. From painting murals and the bottoms of street lamps in New York City to collaborating on a window display for Saks Fifth Avenue to producing sculptures, his art knows no bounds and his fascination with astronauts is a testament to that.
Not only do tattoos of astronauts cover his body, but these figures are the subject of many of his works. White draws inspiration from Shepard Fairey’s use of stencils, but he takes it to a new degree by using anywhere between 60 to 95 layers on any given painting. In using the stencils for his work, he is somehow both going through the motions of laying the piece out while creating something completely original to himself. The subject and technique are deeply indicative of the pieces’ meaning as he tackles themes of loneliness, weightlessness, time, love lost, and longing. White keeps us in touch with figures of space exploration that we all knew as children while also putting emphasis on a sort of loss of innocence as one matures. Whether it is through the text in the background, the embrace of the female form, or the recognition of what that these imagined astronauts might have given up to float alone through space, we cannot deny the beautifully intricate display and statement that White creates for us.
White has not failed to stay in touch with himself as his art has gained traction; his first solo exhibition in Manhattan tackled the process of confronting love lost after a breakup. His work has been shown in L.A., Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Berlin, and Art Basel Miami and he continues to stay true to his own style and the subjects that captivate him most. His art quite literally takes us out of this world.
