Wheelchair bound street artist B.D. White will celebrate his first-ever solo show “Love, Loss & Longing” at Castle Fitzjohns Gallery ( 89 Orchard Street, NYC) with an opening night cocktail reception on Thursday, September 7th, 2017, from 7 PM to 10 PM.  The kick-off event and exhibit, which runs through October 10, 2017, is free and open to the public.  “Love, Loss & Longing” will  feature 24 original works by the Brooklyn-based artist, including a life-sized statue of an astronaut.  In addition there will be 4 original collaboration works and a handful of limited edition screen prints.

BD White explains "Over the past year I've dedicated myself to evolving my stencil paintings into something I had never seen before. I wanted to push myself to the limit. With every new piece I make I'm always trying to improve it over the last one. Before, my work could have easily been seen as a derivative of Shepard Fairey but with this new series it finally feels 100% original to me. I don't Google source any of my images. All of the astronauts are drawn by me and I photograph all the girls myself. It was important for myself to have every aspect of the painting original to just me. Each painting is well over 50 layers with the most intense one at 91 layers. This has been a year in the making, as I've kept it secret from the public, and I'm very excited to be able to finally unveil these new works at the opening on September 7th at Castle Fitzjohns Gallery."

From an early age, White knew he would be an artist. What he didn’t count on was at 18 years of age he would break his back in a sports accident. Years of painful rehabilitative treatment followed to no avail and White accepted that he would not walk again. Rather than let this interfere with his artistic goals, he decided to keep creating!  In 2014, White entered the art scene by painting hundreds of streetlight bases throughout New York City and Brooklyn.  His witty social commentary gained him immediate recognition throughout the street art and fine art world. Since then, the Brooklyn-based artist’s work has been shown in an installation in the World Trade Center, as well as in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, and at Art Basel in Miami.

White describes his street art as “mindful vandalism,” beautifying the cityscape one surface at a time, he is excited to have secured his show at Castle Fitzjohns Gallery. He has spent the last year working on pieces for his first solo show.  “I still do street art as it is part of who I am as an artist. But now that I’m getting older, I would like to avoid being arrested!” laughed White, who has been caught four times by the police in the past during his late-night artistic adventures.

Each piece in “Love, Loss & Longing” is a highly detailed stencil painting using between 50 and 80 stencil layers to create the original image. White does not source any of his images and they are 100% original.  He photographs the subjects of his paintings and draws all from scratch.  Inspired by the works of Shepard Fairey, White has taken the stencil technique to unprecedented levels of complexity. “I’m trying to really push the limit with what I can do and break a new barrier in the stencil art world.  Using foreshortening and strong shadows, I'm able to create a 3D effect where the subject appears to be popping off the canvas.”

WHO:  Wheel chair bound street artist B.D. White

WHAT: First solo gallery exhibit “Love, Loss & Longing”

DATES:  September 7th through October 10th, 2017 

COCKTAIL RECEPTION: Thursday, Sept. 7, from 7 PM to 10 PM

WHERE: Castle Fitzjohns Gallery, 98 Orchard St, NY, NY 10002

GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday thru Sunday, 12 Noon to 7 PM

All Photo’s Copyright 2017 Matthew A. Eller.  Follow me on Instagram @elleresqphoto

This article was originally posted at: https://streetartnews.net/2017/09/preview-bd-white-love-loss-longing-solo-exhibit-castle-fitzjohns-gallery-nyc.html