Skip to main content
Almine Rech

Brian Calvin

Back in the 1990s, Brian Calvin began developing a figurative, non-narrative, pictorial style. Landscapes and portraits steeped in his Californian roots dominated this work. Close-up treatment of subjects, highly composed structures, as well  as  luminous colors laid flat endow these large-scale paintings with a  strange temporality. In observing his technique of pictorial economy, one gradually comes to see a type of abstraction in his representation of certain details. They reveal, even greater still, the true finality of his work, reaffirming the primacy of a visual reflection on painting itself and its possibilities. “I prefer to experience abstraction through the creation and tending of images. Painting provides the medium.”

Selected artworks

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Sisters at night, 2022

    Brian Calvin Sisters at night, 2022

    Acrylic on canvas 
    213.4 x 142.2 cm
    84 x 56 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Gateway, 2022

    Brian Calvin Gateway, 2022

    Acrylic on canvas 
    142.2 x 177.8 cm
    56 x 70 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Backstage, 2022

    Brian Calvin Backstage, 2022

    Acrylic on canvas 
    142.2 x 213.4 cm
    56 x 84 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Sway, 2022

    Brian Calvin Sway, 2022

    Acrylic on linen
    61 x 45.7 cm
    24 x 18 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Moonlight mile, 2022

    Brian Calvin Moonlight mile, 2022

    Acrylic on linen
    61 x 45.7 cm
    24 x 18 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Lineup, 2019

    Brian Calvin Lineup, 2019

    Acrylic on canvas
    142,2 x 213,4 cm
    56 x 84 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Facing Forward, 2019

    Brian Calvin Facing Forward, 2019

    Acrylic on canvas
    182,9 x 274,3 cm
    72 x 108 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Proscenium, 2019

    Brian Calvin Proscenium, 2019

    Acrylique sur toile
    Acrylic on canvas
    182,9 x 274,3 cm
    72 x 108 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Backstage, 2017

    Brian Calvin Backstage, 2017

    Acrylique sur toile
    Acrylic on canvas
    152,4 x 152,4 cm
    60 x 60 in

  • Brian Calvin,                                      Right Here and Over There, 2017

    Brian Calvin Right Here and Over There, 2017

    Acrylique sur toile
    Acrylic on canvas
    177,8 x 152,4 cm
    70 x 60 in

Videos

  • In conversation: Brian Calvin and Phillip Van den Bossche

Selected press

More