Richard Britell - Things I Saw When I Was Dreaming

Posted by Lauren Clark on June 22, 2023

Mostly on the smaller side, this new group of paintings by Britell encompass the wide range of subject matter the artist can claim as his oeuvre. Portraits, landscapes and architecture are all explored here. Additionally, and in a signature style, these paintings have been beautifully framed by the artist.

Richard Britell, career painter, writer, curator, teacher, studied at Pratt Institute with Philip Pearlstein and Walter Erlebacher. His first show in NYC at Staempfli Gallery was sold out, and reviewed in the New York Times. The artist currently lives in Pittsfield, MA.

Lauren Clark Fine Art presents “Things I Saw When I Was Dreaming”, 29 new paintings by Richard Britell. The show runs from June 29 through July 31. A reception for the artist will take place Saturday, July 8 from 5-7pm. All are welcome.

Artist's Statement:

"Artists are often asked to create an artist's statement, and although I have never written one, I would say that my paintings are informed by invisible, yet structural elements. These invisible structural elements consist of pivotal experiences that dot my personal history like buoys on the ocean, marking distances into the foggy horizon. Here is a partial list of those experiences. I have been in a straight jacket twice in my life. I know what the inside of a rubber room looks like. I spent a month in the notorious Northampton State hospital, a sinister establishment long ago torn down.

I have been in the back of a police car twice, in handcuffs muttering the Lord's Prayer, and stood before a judge in a courtroom, shackled hand and foot. It was because I threatened to kill my landlady, but I was not serious about it. At about the same time I smashed a computer up with a brick, and placed it at the entrance of an art gallery. This can be confirmed, if you ask Lauren Clark about it.

In 2006 I had a heart attack, and in 2012, I had a stroke, which left me unable to recall peoples names, which has often been of benefit to me. And most recently I suffered cardiac arrest, in my car in a parking lot, but fortunately some stranger called 911 on me, and I was resuscitated after 25 minutes.

When I was in high school my older brother would often say to his friends, “This is Dicky , my brother, he paints pictures.” Next year I will be 80, and so he can still say of me “This is my brother Dicky, he paints pictures.”

None of this drama, suffering and pain, embarrassment and shame, shows up at all in my paintings, of which I am justifiably proud."

Richard Britell June 2023