Ed Templeton

Roberts & Tilton is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Ed Templeton in his second solo exhibition with the gallery. Templeton, whose exhibitions are primarily a mixture of photographs, drawings and paintings, has chosen to mount a paintings only exhibition, something he hasn't done in 12 years. The results are staggeringly beautiful. As with his photographs, Templeton’s paintings are simultaneously suffused with pain, vulnerability and joy, and tell stories of insecurity, fearlessness and personal triumph amid difficult and painful circumstances.

Templeton has created in this new body of work, a template for love and tenderness, as each of these new paintings speak to the struggles of being alive. Many of the paintings portray the women in Templeton’s life from his mother, to his wife, to friends and their children. He has set himself the task of studying in depth the people who have played an intrinsic role in his personal growth. These images are not always easy to look at and sometimes reference specific events from the artist’s life. One painting in particular shows the artist’s father drowning him in a bathtub. The painting is filled with bright colors, which undercuts its otherwise dark and ominous theme.

Although many of the works are autobiographical, there is evidence here of a more universal theme of transcendence and an understanding of the human spirit as it struggles to achieve itself. The artist implies that the price we pay for honesty can be high, but is nonetheless necessary. As the title of the show denotes, we search for ourselves in fogged mirrors, hoping to catch a glimpse of our truest, highest selves, and these paintings are proof that Templeton has at the very least gazed long enough and deep enough to ascertain that sometimes complicated and painful prisms of his own character speak to the human condition for us all.

Ed Templeton
Fogged Mirror