“Delirium,” a solo show of new work by contemporary surrealist painter Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman, opens at Bert Green Fine Art in Chicago, IL on Saturday July 9, 2022. There will be an artist’s reception from 5-7PM, Central Daylight Time (CDT). The exhibition, which is curated by Alix Sloan with Sloan Fine Art, runs through August 26.
Deirdre says, “This series of work explores the pursuit of love, compassion, and connection with the essential holy feminine. I see the power in love for all people, especially love for each other as women. My first inspiration for the painting ‘Blown About the Sky’ was an empowering feminine Hangman from the Tarot. The Hangman represents the ‘Law of Reversal,’ to reverse the conditions of misery, disease, and failure – the defiance of opposites.”
Throughout her career, Sullivan-Beeman has examined the lore of the “girl” to empower femininity, question gender roles, and investigate the portrayal of young women in popular culture. She pairs her female figures with their animal guides – daemon spirits – to construct allegorical, fantastical narratives. Sullivan-Beeman’s young women are usually teetering on the edge of naïveté, while also steadfastly powerful and wise. She has said of her work, “I aim to connect the wisdom of living things with the wisdom of the unknown. The collective unconscious joins the contents of my dreams in a magical, subliminal, and deep well.”
A self-taught figurative artist, Sullivan-Beeman lives and works in Los Angeles, CA, and Vancouver, Canada. She integrates modified oil and egg tempera techniques of the Renaissance masters with the evocative genre of magic realism – with layers and layers of meticulous brushwork, her pieces seem to illuminate from within. She uses her personal dream journal as inspiration, exploring Jung’s collective unconscious with an overt curiosity for the occult and the esoteric, especially alchemy, the tarot and spirit animals.
Pictured: ‘Blown About the Sky’ (2022) by Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman, Oil and egg tempera on aluminum, 24” x 32”
https://www.sullivanbeeman.com/
