B-Sides: SHAHEEN Modern and contemporary art, Cleveland, OH

For his sixth exhibition at SHAHEEN, and first in the gallery's current location, TR Ericsson continues his ongoing inquiry into the complexities of memory, loss, redemption, the inexorable march of time, and the discourse between personal and collective history.   Derived from a vast family archive of photographs, correspondence, books, recordings and commercially printed materials, the paintings -- some traditional oil paintings, others executed using a combination of cigarette smoke / nicotine, pre-mixed cocktail and metallic gold paint -- and powdered graphite drawings that comprise the show construct a rich, layered narrative that positions personal memory as a powerful vehicle for broader social reflection. The exhibition's title, B-sides, alludes to the importance of music in Ericsson's personal development, and dually refers to the secondary tracks found on the reverse sides of 45 RPM vinyl records, and the extensive passages of text and imagery the artist has screened onto the backs of all the individual paintings and drawings.  Whereas the B-sides of records are typically secondary throw-away tracks, the text and imagery that constitute Ericsson's B-sides become an integral part of the works.  The relationships and tensions that arise between front-side imagery and combination of documentation, narration and reflection on the B-sides paint a picture of American hope and exhaustion that is at once highly personal and universal.

A Cleveland area native, Tom Ericsson studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Art Students League, New York, and the National Academy of Fine Arts, New York.  His work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States and Europe, including solo exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art's  Transformer Station; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels; TOTAH, New York; and France Naumann Gallery, New York.  Ericsson's work has appeared in dozens of group exhibitions in museums and galleries, including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington; Dallas Art Museum; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah; and Akron Art Museum.  His work resides in numerous major museum and corporate collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, NY (by promised gift); Cleveland Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Indianapolis Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; Akron Museum of Art; The Progressive Art Collection; the JP Morgan Chase Collection; and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, among others.  Ericsson currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Painesville, OH.