Brian Calvin, »Stepsister«, 2012

Stepsister, 2012
Digital print on Claro Silk 170g matt paper 
55 x 75 cm
Edition of 25, signed on the back

Androgynous, sleepy-eyed youths drinking, smoking cigarettes or joints, looking blasé. These are the motifs with which American painter Brian Calvin (*1969, USA) made a name for himself. Stepsister belongs to a series dealing with the similarities of siblings. They are not lifelike portraits but based rather on principles of repetition of shapes like the eyes or mouth. As the painting process progresses the »sibling-image« departs ever further from its predecessor. Through the subtle variations he attempts to open up the infinite space of difference. Stepsister is a detail of an oil painting by Calvin.

Recent solo exhibitions have taken place at Almine Recht, Shanghai (2020), Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, and the Met Opera, New York (both 2019). Brian Calvin lives in Ventura, California.