I have been fascinated by artist Bill Travis for several years now, admiring both his unique use of media but also the intense, strong masculine images. Check out his enchantingly illuminated male subjects framed in 19th-century union cases which I featured back in the fall of 2021.
This new series hammers the skull with a brutality and violence that is reminiscent of Goya. The landscapes are stark—monochromatic and on fire. The men are strong, of military might, wielding heavy weapons and ready to kill. As with previous pieces, these are intensely physical, but with this series, there is less eroticism and more anguish, more violence.
Visit: billtravis.art
Bill explains:
Seeing a great society descend into autocracy is extremely painful. As an artist, I feel compelled to put that pain into images. The scenes of violent conflict and remorse in this exhibition function as visual metaphors of the soul in turmoil.
I have been working on this subject for six years and have created upwards of fifty images. Here, for the first time, I am exhibiting eleven large pictures from the series. Mounted on mirrors, they are particularly responsive to light and change over the course of a day, setting in motion a dynamic that speaks to our own struggle with darkness.
The title, A Season in Hell, comes from Arthur Rimbaud’s poem of the same name. The world he knew 150 years ago has long since faded into history, but the raw emotion of his work is as powerful as ever. I draw inspiration from his ability to transcend a moment in time and explore the darkness that lies beneath the surface.
