Bo Bartlett Exhibition at Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe

Bo Bartlett’s commitment to figurative art at an early age coincided with an era where the experimental trumped the representational and painting was mainly discussed in terms of its demise.

His scenes are influenced by his childhood/current home in Georgia, his island summer home in Maine, and his past homes in Pennsylvania and Washington state, but convey a universal, romanticized home.

Bartlett views America with a hopeful gaze despite, at times, our burdensome past and uncertain future. His paintings allude to historical and current events in an effort to continually balance the past and present using the specific yet universal commentary that is the foundation for his work. Realism is often blended with idealism as the artist does not confine himself to the precise rendering of the world we confront on a daily basis.

A proficient and cultivated storyteller, Bartlett challenges our assumptions and attitudes of the functioning world through depictions of life, death, remembrance, transmission, and defiance.

The artist’s push for social and economic justice is present throughout his works, often alongside and supported by portrayals of family and tradition.

Awakening our speculative energies and demonstrating his political and psychological impact, Bartlett demands us to find the communal ground his art celebrates.