Sean Riley
Making Mountains
February 3 – February 25, 2024

Making Mountains is a collection of recent paintings that explores space through the relationships between mountains and the encompassing elements of atmosphere, water, the moon, and clouds. Made in the Turano Valley of central Italy, these pieces depict the region’s mountains with a varied and intensified color palette. The compositions consist of forms that oscillate between stability and volatility and they traverse the realms of both the pictorial and the abstract. As a result, the mountains assert their mass within the picture plane while simultaneously resisting confinement. With subtle layering of color and manipulations of the surface texture, these works invite a close reading of expansive shapes and intriguing perspectives.

About the Artist:

Sean Riley is an artist living and working in Washington, DC. In 1999, Riley received his BFA in painting from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. In 2004, he received an MFA in sculpture from the University of Pennsylvania. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the Northeast including: Danese/Corey in New York City, TSA NY in Brooklyn, NY, Gallery 263 in Cambridge, MA, Lamont Gallery in Exeter, NH, Arthur Ross Gallery in Philadelphia, PA, The Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, NY, and several others. He has received grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, and the Berkshire Taconic Foundation. Riley has been an artist in residence at the Joan Mitchell Center, Yaddo, and the Vermont Studio Center. More of his work can be seen at seanrileystudio.com and on IG @studioseanriley.