Spencer Sweeney

Articulated through viscid surfaces of oil pastel, Spencer Sweeney offers tactile indications of figurative form — an array of colour, gesture and style — coalescing into moments of energised abstraction.

Ever resistant to categorisation, Sweeney draws inspiration from his lived experience and persona as a vital presence in the New York cultural scene. Sweeney’s idiosyncratic talent enables him to traverse the multiplicity of styles and modes working within visual art, music and performance. Indeed, in Sweeney’s practice we witness a desire to celebrate art’s function in life and the world’s potential as a receptive, unrestrictive creative space.

Spencer Sweeney (b. 1973, Philadelphia, USA) lives and works in New York. Sweeney exhibits internationally, selected exhibitions include: ‘Wake Up and Make Love’, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise (solo, 2015); ‘SHE’, C L E A R I N G, Brussels (solo, 2014); ‘Monads and Party Paintings’, The Modern Insitute, Glasgow (solo, 2014); ‘Berlin Paintings’, VeneKlasen Werner, Berlin (solo, 2013); Twig Gallery, Brussels (solo, 2012); ‘Do Your Thing’, White Columns, New York (2012); ‘Nudes’, The Green Gallery, Milwaukee (solo, 2011); ‘Egyptian Diving Board Part II’, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York (solo, 2010); ‘To NY with Love’, Don’t Projects, Paris (2010); ‘That was Then ”¦ This is Now’, PS1, New York (2008); and ‘Our Gang’, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (solo, 2008).

A new monograph of Sweeney’s career was published by Kiito-San in 2015 and in 2016 he had a solo exhibition at Cahiers D’Art, Paris. Sweeney recently had a solo exhibition at Gagosian Gallery Park & 75, New York.


For further information, please contact bobby@themoderninstitute.com