Art in advertising, writing in art.
Untitled by Douglas Sheran, ca. 2005, acrylic on magazine page, 12.75 x 9.75 inches
Curated by none other than arts writer Hilton Als of The New Yorker, Figuratively Speaking: Art in Advertising, Writing in Art unearths the striking and multilayered work of Douglas Sheran. Sheran, who worked at Creativity Explored from 1984 to 2008, is known for his skillful, gestural portraits that capture the strength and essence of his subject, rather than the minute detail. Playing with the human form, Sheran created a series of works in which he painted over female figures found in the pages of magazines.
Accenting Sheran’s portraits are a work each by CE artists Bertha Otoya, a Peruvian printmaker with a fondness for scrolls, and Roland Record, a seasoned artist whose gridded drawings call to mind maps or architectural blueprints.
About Hilton Als
Hilton Als became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1994 and a theatre critic in 2002. He began contributing to the magazine in 1989, writing pieces for The Talk of the Town. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2017 for his New Yorker work.
Before coming to The New Yorker, Als was a staff writer for the Village Voice and an editor-at-large at Vibe. Als edited the catalogue for the 1994-95 Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition “Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary American Art.” His first book, “The Women,” was published in 1996. His most recent book, “White Girls,” a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the winner of the Lambda Literary Award in 2014, discusses various narratives of race and gender.
In 1997, the New York Association of Black Journalists awarded Als first prize in both Magazine Critique/Review and Magazine Arts and Entertainment. He was awarded a Guggenheim for creative writing in 2000 and the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism for 2002-03. In 2016, he received Lambda Literary’s Trustee Award for Excellence in Literature. In 2018, Als received the City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal.
In 2009, Als worked with the performer Justin Bond on “Cold Water,” an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and videos by performers, at La MaMa Gallery. In 2010, he co-curated “Self-Consciousness,” at the VeneKlasen/Werner gallery, in Berlin, and published “Justin Bond/Jackie Curtis.” In 2015, he collaborated with the artist Celia Paul to create “Desdemona for Celia by Hilton,” an exhibition for the Metropolitan Opera’s Gallery Met. “Alice Neel, Uptown,” which Als curated in 2017, was selected by three of Artforum’s critics as one of the ten best shows of the year. His accompanying book on the artist was also widely praised.
Als is a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an associate professor of writing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and has taught at Yale University, Columbia University, Wesleyan University, and Smith College. He lives in New York City.
Opening Reception
Thursday, April 13, 2022 at the CE gallery and studio
5:00 - 6:00 PM | VIP Donor Exclusive Preview
(by invitation only for CE donors)
6:00 - 8:00 PM | Public Reception
(free and open to all!)
Masks or face-coverings are required while not eating or drinking. No RSVP is required but capacity is limited. Please plan accordingly!
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