Curated by Carter Ratcliff

The Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild presents a solo exhibition of paintings by Ford Crull. In this exhibition curated by Carter Ratcliff, Crull explores symbols in this series of densely painted and colorful compositions. Using forms such as hearts, wings, crosses, and figures, Crull grounds his vocabulary in brilliant hues that shimmer and dance across the canvas. Fleeting words and phrases also float across the surface while a myriad of emblems imply suffering, occult wisdom, and spiritual release all in a mystical, mutable atmosphere among layers of jewel-like color. These works are not only personal meditations but universal archetypes transcending space and being.

ABOUT FORD CRULL:
A resident of New York City and Willow, NY, Ford Crull was raised in Seattle, where he graduated from the University of Washington. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery, Dayton Art Institute, and the Brooklyn Museum. His paintings were included in the significant 1989 Moscow exhibition, “Painting After the Death of Painting,” curated by Donald Kuspit. Recent exhibitions have included shows in Shanghai, London, Milan, and Seattle.

More about Ford Crull: www.fordcrull.com

ABOUT CARTER RATCLIFF:
Carter Ratcliff is a poet, art critic, and contributing editor of Art in America. His writings on art have been published by the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Guggenheim Museum; the Royal Academy, London; Maxxi Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome, and many other institutions. He has contributed to the leading journals of the United States and Europe, including Art in America, Art Forum, ArtNews, Arts, Tate, and Art Presse, as well as Vogue, Elle, and New York magazine. His books include The Fate of a Gesture: Jackson Pollock and Postwar American Art, Out of the Box: The Reinvention of Art, and monographs on Andy Warhol, John Singer Sargent, Georgia O’Keeffe, Gilbert & George, and others. Among his books of poetry are Fever Coast, Give Me Tomorrow, and Arrivederci, Modernismo. His first novel, Tequila Mockingbird, was published in 2015.

Opening reception August 17, 2024, 4-6 PM

During the opening reception, enjoy a sampling of wines from CoolVines, a NJ wine retail store owner by Mark Censits, a part-time resident of Woodstock.

BOUT CARTER