Ellwood Risk

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

Opening Reception 

Saturday September 10, 2016 from 5-8pm

Exhibition

September 10 - October 8, 2016
 

A History of Violence was not the show I had planned on exhibiting
for my 4th installment at  Robert Berman Gallery.  I'd been working on
a new series (The Bomb Squad) and had intended to produce works
from that effort. 

In light of the gun violence that has continued to be a part of our 
day to day reality and the record breaking mass shooting in Orlando, 
I felt compelled to make some type of comment regarding the topic
of gun violence in America.

My work has often found itself in accidental conversation with such 
issues, but this show will be my first attempt at directly addressing them.  

According to the Gun Violence Archive for 2016, (http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/ )
we have already experienced 248 mass shootings in this country. 
And that’s just for the year to date.  Over 33,000 people lose their lives
to gun violence every year in the U.S.

I’m not anti-2nd Amendment, but I am pro-common sense.

A History of Violence will feature many of the (LA and New York Times) front
pages from shooting tragedies in years past and the present.

Ellwood T. Risk / Los Angeles, 2016

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Ellwood T. Risk is a self-taught artist who has been living and working in Los Angeles since 1992. The artist has kept studios in San Diego, Venice, The Santa Monica Airport, Mar Vista, and most recently, San Pedro.

 Risk’s first solo exhibition (Loaded) was held at Robert Berman Gallery in 2005.

His pistol targets have been featured in film and television since 2003. Four works including ‘Hank’s Training Target’ were featured in seasons one through six of Showtime’s ‘Californication’. Other industry credits include the X Files, Six Feet Under, Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dads, CSI, Saving Grace, Flash Forward, Entourage, Franklin & Bash, Ray Donovan, Dinner for Schmucks, Haywire, The Soloist, Shooter, and Knight of Cups.

While the artist continues to produce hands-on originals with actual pistol targets, he has begun to explore the making of works in the digital world. This has allowed him to render originals a scale that exceeds the inherent limitations of the standard, paper target.

A History of Violence marks the artist’s first attempt at a dialog that directly addresses the issue of gun violence in America.

Broader, more comprehensive versions of this exhibit will follow.