Brian Booth Craig
Body Languages
14 November — 20 December, 2019
New York, NY — Louis K. Meisel Gallery is pleased to announce Brian Booth Craig: Body Languages. For his second solo exhibition with the gallery, Brian Booth Craig presents a selection of life- and half-life-size bronze female nudes that present a contemporary interpretation on classical bronze figures.
Booth Craig’s work challenges the historic relationship between male artist and female model. He describes his process as a conversation in which the models present an image of themselves, and he in turn takes cues from their undirected movements and gestures. In a 2017 interview with Sculpture Atelier, he comments on his models’ empowerment, stating that, “I have to contextualize the male gaze within the contemporary society that hopefully recognizes female agency.” In strong, striking poses, the figures are aware of their sexuality and not afraid to engage the viewer. By intentionally replicating the body language specific to each model, Booth Craig preserves these expressions of individual selfassertion, first as clay forms and later as the final bronze sculpture.
Booth Craig has exhibited in numerous institutions, including Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao in Spain (2016), Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans (2014), and multiple exhibits at the John Pence Gallery in San Francisco. He is the recipient of The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (1993) and an Honorary Member of the International Sculpture Center (2013). Booth Craig holds a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University and an M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art. From 2004 to 2015 he served as Professor of Sculpture at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts and continues to teach annually at the Rome Academy Workshops in Rome, Italy.
Body Languages is on view from November 14 to December 20, 2019, with an opening reception on Thursday, November 14 from 6-8pm. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm. For additional information please visit our website, meiselgallery.com, or contact Gallery Director Elizabeth Harris at elizabeth@meisels.com. (Photograph of “Exotherm”, 2019, bronze with unique patina, 37 ½ x 12 x 7 inches)
Featured Works
About Brian Booth Craig
Brian Booth Craig (b. 1968; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a contemporary sculptor who specializes in the bronze medium. Sculpting from life, Booth Craig’s work translates classically derived figures into contemporary icons. His female nudes are imbued with a sense of agency. Mixing 21st century gestures with surprising talismans, his statues are very much of our time, despite the medium’s classical origins. Verist in nature, Booth Craig’s figures capture moments of individual self-assertion. Booth Craig holds a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University (1993) as well as an M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art (2013) and is an Honorary Member of the International Sculpture Center (2013). He is a former apprentice of the painter and sculptor Audrey Flack.
Released in Fall 2020, Vincent Zambrano’s film Body Languages chronicles the work of Booth Craig.
