left: Indian Blanket, South Texas, 2010, oil
on canvas, 60x72"
center: Scissor-tails, 2010, oil on canvas, 48x48"
right: Stellar's Jays and Service Berries, 2010, oil on canvas,
48x48"
Inspired by nature, Billy Hassell's work combines elements
of abstraction and representation. While never entirely abandoning recognizable
subject matter, he composes with an abstract sensibility, emphasizing
image with a dramatic use of color and a whimsical use of pictorial space.
Images of nature, birds in particular, and fragments of landscape recur
frequently throughout his work.
In the newest works, shapes are simplified, fragmented and arranged in
a shallow space.
The emblematic forms and silhouettes, like hieroglyphs in a language of
signs and symbols, suggest an underlying narrative.
Selected Exhibitions:
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
Meredith Long & Company, Houston, TX
M B Modern, New York, NY
Scott Alan Gallery, New York, NY
William Campbell Contemporary Art, Fort Worth, TX
DW Gallery, Dallas, TX
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
The Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, TX