The distillation of the studio’s physical and ephemeral characteristics constitutes an important aspect of the artist’s practice. That which finds expression as work on canvas originates as the inherent dimensions of the structure of the space, the proportion of a window, direction of its light, and the makeshift tools found nearby or inside. Time spent in the studio corralling these native elements, and learning their individual insistences on translation through the work, acts as Everett’s primary vehicle for developing its direction. In this way, what remains is an indexical record of the artist’s labor and practice.
Everett has previously collaborated with choreographers and dancers during major exhibitions to activate the motion inherent in the works. For the artist’s 2017 installation at SFMOMA, Everett invited dance partners for performative actions twice weekly, incorporating a sculptural staging element that further developed his investigations into the influence of emotive environments.
Born in 1973 in Rochester, New York, Liam Everett lives and works in Northern California. His work has been included in exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Biennale of Painting, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; U.C. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art; CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco. He has had two solo exhibitions at Kasmin: On meeting again (2021) and Cura (2011). Everett is the recipient of the SECA Art Award at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2017), the Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship at the San Francisco Art Institute (2013) and the San Francisco Artadia Award (2013). Everett’s work is included in significant international public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, France; Fondation Carmignac, Paris; Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker, Norway, and U.C. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives.
Photo by Spencer Wells.
