"Young Achille"
2005
tecnica mista
su lastra dorata
40 x 30
Biografia Bill Travis
Education
B.A. in art history, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.
M.A. and Ph.D. in art history, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
Esperienze
He taught art history for several years at various universities, including the American University in Washington, D.C. and the University of Michigan.
He has delivered numerous papers on art-historical topics at scholarly conferences.
He has published many articles on medieval art in professional journals, in the United States and in Europe.
Exhibitions
Selected Group Shows
-2006 "On Skin," Holden Luntz Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida.
"Independent," Amos Eno Gallery, New York City.
-2005 Group Show, Dangenart Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee.
"Portraits," Soho Photo Gallery, New York City.
"Open Your Eyes," CPS 32Gallery, New York City.
"New York," Soho Photo Gallery, New York City.
"Musicians," Stadler Gallery, Kingsfield, Maine (two-person show).
"Voyeurisms," Alfred Lowenherz Gallery, New York City.
"Committed to Paper," Outwrite Bookstore, Atlanta.
Winter Group Show, Amos Eno Gallery, New York City.
-2004 December Group Show, Soho Photo Gallery, New York City.
"Postcards from the Edge," Visual AIDS, Brent Sikkema, New York City.
"Different Voices, Common Threads," Columbia University, New York City.
"Collision," Columbia University (at Ace Gallery, New York City).
Group Show, Push, New York City.
Selected Solo Shows
-2005 "A Fantasy," The Townhouse, New York City.
"Pensées, Désirs," Les Mots à la Bouche, Paris.
"Dreamers," Soho Photo Gallery, New York City.
"Desire," Amos Eno Gallery, New York City.
-2004 "The Male Nude: Between Painting and Photography,"
School of Visual Arts, New York City.
"Heart's Desire," Pegasus, New York City.
Museum Shows
-2006 Schwules Museum, Berlin.
-2004 "De Norte a Sur," Museo de la Fotografía, Rafaela, Argentina.
All of my portraits are self-portraits.
Not in the sense that they represent my body
-I should be so lucky-but in the deeper sense of portraying the inner being, i.e., the desire, nostalgia, frustration, tenderness, joy, strength, vulnerability that these figures evoke.
So my work is at heart a way of expressing emotion through the inexhaustibly rich vehicle of the body.
As emotions, however deeply felt, are also multi-layered and nebulous, the images are, I hope, suggestive and mysterious, opening the door to various reactions and interpretations. Color, light, and texture play an important role, perhaps because they enhance the tactile quality of the images, inviting the viewer into the scene.
I came to photography through art history, having earned a Ph.D. in medieval art and taught at the university level for several years, and this background has influenced my creative work.
My earliest forays consisted of photographic transfers on gilt boards, using a technique of my invention that let the gold shine through to the surface, giving the body an unusual radiance. These images were my personal take on the Byzantine icon, with the difference that the stiff, religious figure has given way to a decidedly secular male nude.
Since creating these pieces I have gone on to develop other techniques that explore the frontier between painting and photography, not for the sake of novelty itself, but for the possibility of expressing a personal vision where images have the specificity of photography and the warmth of painting.
