RICHARD BRULAND BIO
1971-1973 California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA BFA
1965-1967 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 “Richard Bruland, WHOA!,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica
2017 “Richard Bruland, PERIPHERIES,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2014 “Continuum,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA. Solo Exhibition, Artist talk: June 28th
“Parallels,” Solo Exhibitions of Paintings by Richard Bruland and Woven Tapestries by Michael Rohde, Blackboard Gallery, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA
2013 “Reseda's Rock & Roll History,” Continental Art Supplies, Reseda, CA
2012 “New Paintings,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2010 “Richard Bruland, New Fades,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2011 “New Paintings,” B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2007 “Richard Bruland & Steve Klein,” Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA (tandem solo)
“Reflections: Forms & Fades”, Davis & Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR (tandem solo)
2006 “New Fades,” Gail Harvey Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
“Richard Bruland”, Davis & Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR
2005 “Solo,” Mt. San Jacinto College Gallery, San Jacinto, CA
“Fades,” Gail Harvey Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
“Shadows & Fades- An Evolution from 1990 to 2005,” LA Artcore, Union Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2004 “Airs & Fades,” Gail Harvey Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2003 “East of Western,” Gallery 825 Bergamot Annex, Santa Monica, CA
1999 “New Paintings,” Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA
1998 “Selected Works 1990-1998,” SITE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1998 “New Works,” LA Artcore Brewery Annex, Los Angeles, CA
1997 “Paintings,” LA Artcore Center, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013 “Summer Group Show,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2012 “Small Paintings Group Show,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2011 “ABSTRACTION,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2010 “Shades of Blue,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2009 “Marked Intensity,” Mt. Saint Mary’s College Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"Introductions…” Lanning Gallery, Sedona, AZ
“Summer Group Show,” Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2008 “New Directions,” Richard Bruland, Gretchen Papka, Christine Hagedorn, B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY (three person show)
“Tarfest,” Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Howard Fox, LACMA
"Little Light," Richard Bruland, Josh Friedman, Kyoung Ha Yoo, 98ten Fine Art, Irvine, CA
2007 “Open Show 2007,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Howard Fox, LACMA
“Winter Biannual,” LAAA South, Hermosa Beach, CA. Juried by Susan Cross
“Haus Guests,” Brewery Projects, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Bill Rabe & Nina Amsler
2006 “Introductions 2006,” Davis & Cline Galleries, Ashland, OR
“Saturation & Surface,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Nancy Silverman-Miles
2005 “In the Abstract,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Carl Berg
“Incognito,” Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA
2004 “Between 1-10,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Jack Rutberg
“White Planes,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Michelle Isenberg
2003 “National Juried Exhibition,” Palm Springs Desert Museum. Juried by Gordon Fuglie
“Things D’Art,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Mark Greenfield
“L.A. Metro,” University Gallery, Clarion University, Clarion, PA
2002 “Big Wave IV,” Andrew-Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Young An
“Pacifically Designed,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
“The Valentine Show,” L.A. River L’il Frogtown Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Frank Romero
2002 “All Media Juried Exhibition,” Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, CA. Juried by Ashley Emenegger
“What’s Really Going On,” Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Habib Kheradyar
2001 “Nature as Source,” LA Artcore Brewery Annex, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Lydia Takeshita
1999 “Small Treasures,” Don O’Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1998 “Rockies to the Pacific,” SITE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Juried by Llyn Foulkes and Roland Reiss
“Biennial,” Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA. Juried by Jay Belloli
1996 “Visual Rhythms,” Coons Center Gallery, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Hendrik Stooker
1995 “Open Juried Competition ’95,” Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA
1994 “Current Abstractions,” Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Noel Korten
1993 “Depayser,” Artspace Gallery, Woodland Hills, CA. Juried by Joni Gordon
1992 “Art & Critique,” SITE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Curated by Scott Canty
“Haunted Visions/Celestial Ecstasy,” 801 N. Brand Gallery, Glendale, CA. Curated by Gordon Fuglie
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2010 Painters' Painters, by George Melrod, Editor, Art Ltd., Woodland Hills, CA. May/June, text and image, pg. 38
2008 Staff Picks, by Jo Anne Triplett, LEO, Louisville, KY. July, text, color image, pg. 14
2006 New Fades: Richard Bruland at the Gail Harvey Gallery, by James Scarborough (exhibition review), Santa Monica, CA. October
2002 Through the Picture Plane, by Ray Zone, ArtScene, Los Angeles, CA. April
2001 Richard Bruland: Lines & Shadows & Fades (Oh My!), by Isabel Anderson (exhibition review), Artweek Reviews, Los Angeles, CA. October
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
LA ARTCORE, Los Angeles, Member of the Board of Directors, 1996
SITE, Los Angeles, Member of the Board of Directors, 1999
LOS ANGELES ART ASSOCIATION, Los Angeles, CA
ARTISTS’ MATTERS, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, Lexington, KY
Paul Reiser, Los Angeles, California
Richard Bruland was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Geneva, Switzerland. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and graduated from California Institute of the Arts (BFA) in Valencia.
A lifelong interest in music led to Bruland opening Bebop Records and Fine Art in Reseda, California in 1982. Bebop was a record store/art gallery/ performance place that became one of the best known small venues in Los Angeles during the 1980s. Performers such as Los Lobos, Lucinda Williams, Janes Addiction, and Beck graced its stage, while the gallery hosted early shows by artists such as Raymond Pettibon and Cameron Jamie. In 1990, Bruland closed Bebop to concentrate on his painting and spend more time with his young children. In 2007 California State University, Northridge (CSUN) established an archive on Bebop. It includes the 1000+ handmade posters Bruland made for the store, as well as many documents and photos relating to the store's history. More about the store can be seen at Bebop’s MySpace account: https://myspace.com/bebopreseda
Artist’s Statement
We live in a High-Tech visual world dominated by computerized special effects and video/DVD manipulations. We are surrounded by digitized, computer-generated and photo-shopped images. All this technology is available to most students, even children. What is a mere painter to do?
I have set myself the task of using only traditional methods and materials to produce paintings that can hold their own and draw people in--even in the modern world of sensory overload.
Although structurally abstract, I think of my paintings in landscape terms. Focused on the transition from light to dark, referring to the natural, or real world, they infer a sense of ‘place.’ Attaining clarity and achieving a certain psychological edge through color are of primary interest to me, as are finding ways of reaching a wider audience while retaining the potential for multiple interpretations.
My paintings are neither issue driven, nor an anthropological examination of cultural minutiae-but rather a very personal exploration of my own particular signatures.
