Anthony B. Creeden - Artist Talk

Cacti, as notoriously hardy spiked things, tend to look harshly figural and exotic when mixed amongst signs of modernity. In my studio, behind the MacBook, lit under LED light, stands this short, defiantly potted, prehistoric life form. A reminder of how things used to be, out amongst nature, before Brita filters and before ISPs. I notice them as I turn almost every corner on my block in Austin too, waving at me indifferently, and in their own way daring us all to screw this whole societal experiment up. “See who lasts then,” it kind of mutters. Cacti and Semaphore—the show’s title—shares its name with a 1923 painting by Georg Scholz. The artists of Scholz’s day have all passed. They float among us now, in the digital images of their work left behind. Today in our painting studios, like in a séance, we ask for guidance, curious of our own fortunes ahead.

Anthony B. Creeden (born Washington, D.C.) holds an MFA in painting from the University of Texas at Austin (2017) and a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2011). Recent exhibitions include Edward Cella Gallery in Los Angeles, CA; the Elmhurst Art Museum in Elmhurst, IL; William Benington Gallery in London, UK; and MASS Gallery in Austin, TX.