I had a tutor at art school who sent the first sculpture into space. He also insisted that we be able to make art in the most reduced circumstances. Washed up on a desert island, a stick and some sand. He told us that on occasion, when he needed to get his brain rolling again he would strip naked, sit on a big blank piece of paper and using his hands and feet, draw a big charcoal circle to sit in the middle of. Back to basics. Reset. That’s how these Yellow Paintings by Peter Schuyff feel. He has been making them on and off since the late 1970’s. Always on cheap brown paper, with a reduced palette of yellow, black and white paint. The yellow paintings provide a space for objects to inhabit. Dream scenarios of fictional shows. Spaces that don’t need to be found, sculptures that don’t need to be made. Like a kind of proto-sketchup. These paintings were first made by a kid in Vancouver, dreaming of being an artist. He could fantasize shows into being on big scraps of paper. Idea space. Everything that is imagined is real. When he moved to New York City he was working at White Columns, when the director, Josh Baer went on holiday. Schuyff took his keys, opened up the empty gallery space and made himself a solo show of the Yellow Paintings. He got fired for his gumption but the show was a success. His stolen show of paintings of fantasy exhibitions of improbable sculptures was his gateway to the big time. He could have left them there but there is something in the rudimentary nature of these works that has remained useful to him. He makes them for couple of months every three or four years, usually when he moves studio or needs to ‘spread out a bit’. Why? I’d say they take him back to being that kid in Vancouver, dreaming of being an artist. For a few dollars and 3 buckets of paint he can return to a time when everything was ahead of him and full of potential. These Yellow Paintings are the artists’, have you tried turning it off and on again? Reset. Reboot. Refresh.

by David Risley

0-0 LA is proud to present “Yellow Paintings” a solo exhibition by Peter Schuyff. “Yellow Paintings” is an exhibition of new works on paper by the internationally exhibited Dutch born American painter and sculptor. An opening reception will be held on September 7, 2018 from 6-9pm and the exhibition will be on view through October 2, 2018.