A body of 100 paintings worked through from 2019 to 2023 (artist's book).
From the onset, this broad network of paintings has been conceived and developed for the format of publication. These works now converge within the pages of this volume, offering readers a glimpse into the artist's intricate creative process.
From fleeting moments of inspiration to prolonged periods of contemplation, each painting reflects Sean Crossley's constant pursuit of artistic "enoughness". Through a delicate interplay of form and function, he navigates the complexities of excess, embracing the boundless potential inherent in the act of creation itself.
"Excess/Support" could be considered as a "toolbox", a practical means to "reading" the installation projects, both past and future, that make up Sean Crossley's painting practice.
The book serves as a testament to the transformative power of art and celebrates the nuanced interplay between concept and execution.
Born 1987 in Melbourne, Sean Crossley lives and works in Brussels. Sean Crossley uses painting as a practical means to explore different relationships between abstraction and realism, both of painting as an artistic discipline and within a broader social field. As such, it is concerned with both the intrinsic workings of paintings within their own historical continuum, as well as the way they operate as (conceptual) objects embedded in an overarching visual culture. Crossley's approach to painting is that of a system of exchange offering a reflexive, non-literal way to navigate the visual complexity of the information age. Like a feedback loop, subjects which are often quotidian or conventional, such as faces, objects, or public spaces, are gradually weaved into or fused with other matters or systems. Tangible on the surface of the painting, where the pentimento reveals haphazard connections between different subject matters and compositions, this way of working also reveals itself in the ongoing dialogue which gradually develops between the different bodies of works.
