Carole Bayer Sager 2014

CAROLE BAYER SAGER NEW WORKS

WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY BERGAMOT STATION ARTS CENTER 2525 MICHIGAN AVE., E-1 SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 P 310-453-0909 F 310-453-0908 www.williamturnergallery.com

FOREWORD: We are excited to present you with this exquisite exhibition, NEW WORKS, by Carole Bayer Sager. The artist continues to investigate subjects she introduced in 2012, at her sold-out debut exhibition. An incredibly gifted and iconic figure in music, Bayer Sager has uncovered a talent for painting and visual expression that is remarkable in its depth and facility.

The paintings explore notions of obsession and perception, utilizing foods that are embedded in our pop cultural DNA. By drastically changing their size and scale, the artist invites viewers to take an abstract look - up close or at a distance - bringing their own associations to grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate candies, and confectionary explosions. The richly detailed compositions are sensual provocations, enticing desire and temptation, through the wonderfully seductive qualities of paint.

“Carole Bayer Sager doesn’t paint food, she paints how we look at and see food,” writes art critic Peter Frank. “[She] is, if anything, more invested in the sensuality of the paint than in the sensuality of the subject matter. The paint itself is rich, thick, tactile, the surfaces often glazed. If the goodies she depicts inspire nostalgia for gustatory indulgence, the rich feel of the paint awakens a deeper, more directly and intensely felt sensation.”

Take for example the paintings, Torn and Pulled. The compositions immerse us in close-up views, inciting and enticing the senses to touch, taste and explore these gooey depictions. Bayer Sager’s paintings create a photographic engagement with the viewer that ignites each of our senses simultaneously. When looking at Cupcake, you can barely resist the urge to reach beyond the surface of the canvas, scoop up a dollop of that creamy frosting and revel in its delicious texture.

These macro and micro views of seemingly everyday subjects dislocate us from familiar perspectives, allowing apparently representational images to become surprisingly abstract. The intensity of this phenomena increases the longer you gaze at the works. As you look at Kisses and Shadow, chocolate candies are transformed into a melting, twisting matrix of light, shadow and form. Suddenly, our initial observations are turned upside-down and we are swept into a picture plane ripe with abstract rhythms of color and texture.

With this body of work, we invite you to journey into an exploration of the nature of perception, and share in the excitement of an artist who has found a new voice in the language of paint.

MILKY WAY, oil on canvas, 84”x84”

SHREDDED, oil on canvas, 84”x84”

GOLDEN KISSES, oil on linen, 60”x60”

SILVER KISSES, oil on linen, 60”x60”

TOASTED, oil on linen, 60”x60”

KISSES & SHADOW, oil on linen, 48”x48”

PULLED, oil on linen, 48”x48”

TORN, oil on linen, 48”x48”

SAMPLED, oil on linen, 48”x48”

PORTRAIT OF TWO KISSES WITH REFLECTION, oil on linen, 36”x36”

PORTRAIT OF AN ORANGE M&M PEANUT, oil on linen, 36”x36”

PORTRAIT OF AN M&M PEANUT, oil on linen, 36”x36”

CUPCAKE, oil on linen, 36”x36”

PORTRAIT OF TWO KISSES, oil on linen, 36”x36”

THREE LITTLE M&M PEANUTS, oil on linen, 36”x36”

RED VELVET CRUMBS, oil on linen, 36”x36”

Carole Bayer Sager: On her Music and Painting

To me, songwriting and painting are very related.

I have always preferred writing ballads rather than up-tempo songs because ballads are more emotional. They elicit big feelings. In writing and producing songs, there is always that moment when the song needs to grab me or else it fails.

When the string line enters for the first time, I feel deliciously satisfied, very much like the moment a painting begins to satisfy me as it becomes thick with paint and rich with color. When I can feel the drip of the jelly, the sensuality of the overly buttered corn, or the texture of the red skins of peanuts, I am “there”.

And I am “there” in that same sensually satisfying way as hearing the chorus of “Nobody Does it Better”, all the instruments in the right relationship to each other, the string line riding the air, the smoothness and sensuality of Carly Simon’s voice, thick and rich, perfectly cushioned in the track.

My whole being feels complete when it is right.

Whether in songwriting or in painting, if I don’t get that feeling, I have not been successful. Although this can be a little depressing, I try to study why and then I move on.

IN THE COLLECTIONS OF: Shelli and Irving Azoff Larry Beckwith Julie Chen and Les Moonves Eva and Michael Chow Lauren Shuler Donner Sandy Gallin David Geffen William Haber Elton John Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Bobby Kotick Lyn and Norman Lear Gail and Warren Lieberfarb Nigel Lythgoe Tamar and Bob Manukian Steve and Ann Martin Mo Ostin Margie Perenchio Lynda and Stewart Resnick Jane and Terry Semel Arnold Stiefel Barbara Walters Elaine Wynn SPECIAL THANKS: Bob Daly Christine Anderson Rob Brander Carolyn Campbell Laurie Gonlag Michael Govan Tien Ly Margie Perenchio Savannah Sjostrom

WILLIAM TUNER GALLERY Photography: Rob Brander Layout: Rob Brander Design Assistant: Savannah Sjostrom Copyright 2014 William Turner Gallery