Featured Artist
TB Ward’s Professional Human Opens at Upstream Gallery
English artist TB Ward’s fourth solo show, Professional Human, opens at Upstream Gallery at Hastings-on-Hudson on October 3.
About the show
The show utilizes classic portrait format to explore the 21st century idea of a personal brand. A press release about the show states, “It asks whether our value and relevance rely on our ability to advertise and commodify our thoughts, daily lives, and the work we produce.”
Portrait of a Man Who’s Difficult to Put Your Finger On
The show will consist of seven oil paintings and an EP consisting of four songs and five spoken word/short stories. Ward spent many years touring the world in multiple bands, so creating an aural accompaniment to the visual portion of the show made perfect sense. The EP will be released on vinyl and available at the show.
The press release about the show states, “Ward chose portraiture as the vehicle for this message. Portraits force you to be interested in subjects simply as subjects. He isolates the individual from imposed storylines and crafted perception: these paintings tune into the human frequency. These are real people telling a small story of our time, and the responsibility Ward assumes in this show – to capture the case of characters’ essence with care and empathy – makes each portrait a personal and delicate affair.”
“I’m trying to read them and although I feel it would be a disservice to the subject, as well as to the work of art, if I impose ‘my style’ onto them, I’m hoping the viewer sees them through me,” Ward said of Professional Human.
About TB Ward
Ward was born and raised in Barnsley, England, and has traveled extensively. His focus during his education was printmaking, and after finding himself “disenchanted with the structured environment of studying visual arts,” he found himself drawn to music.
Taggart, May 8, 2024
His work in music led to tours across the UK and Europe, before Ward eventually settled in New York City in the 1990s. He then went on to work at the Whitney Museum, a modern and contemporary American art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan. Surrounded by artwork, Ward found inspiration in different styles and techniques.
After moving back to England, Ward found himself embracing the rural landscapes of his homeland and he began plein-air landscape painting. Plein air is a French expression meaning “in the open air,” and refers to the act of painting outdoors with the subject in full view.
His newest series tackles the subject of portraiture and personal brand, including the ways in which we are required to tell stories “to sell our work and our talents, and after enough time, we forget where that line is that separates our fictions from our realities.”
The opening reception for TB Ward’s Professional Human at Upstream Gallery takes place on Friday, October 4 from 5-8pm at 8 Main Street, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. The show will run from October 3rd to the 27th.
Visit TB Ward’s website here and follow him on Instagram @tbwardart for more updates.