12.07.25 — 01.10.26
Kitchen Harmonics
Sean Sullivan works from a place where drawing is both foundation and philosophy. His studio practice has long been devoted to this deeply personal approach to artmaking—a world of linear notation, diagram-like reflection, spatial exploration, and formal structure. All of this is filtered through a gentle sense of whimsy and play. The work is always carefully determined both chromatically and compositionally, exposing the myriad ways line and shape can express subtle emotional weight. Where there is great care in organizing a complex visual language, there is also a clear sense of invention and a desire to let close looking reveal the power of his compositions.
One aspect of Sullivan’s work that is often overshadowed by the unique formal presence of each piece is the subtle dimension of mediation used to build layers of nuance and history. By activating a transfer process that lifts oil pigment from one surface to another—repeating the action for each color—he creates surface qualities that wouldn’t be possible through direct drawing. The in-between-ness of his process keeps the work from becoming fussy or overdetermined. His transfer method adds depth and richness by introducing both the gain and loss of material and color. That element of material interference brings chance into the artmaking process, adding an unpredictable but meaningful dimension. For Sullivan, it seems essential to embrace this degree of indirection in order to enrich the final result.
The title of this exhibition—Kitchen Harmonics—suggests a domestic facet to this suite of new works. Because Sullivan’s studio occupies a special place in his home in the Hudson Valley, it makes sense that the work is inspired by the spirit of his home life. Closeness and the warmth of the home environment carry over into the work in ways that are both evident and poetic.
Devening Projects is pleased to present this new body of work by Sean Sullivan, an artist whose practice aligns seamlessly with the gallery’s mission. His attentive construction of complex visual structures, his assertive engagement with material processes, and the lyrical restraint that shapes each composition come together here with clarity and confidence.
(b. 1975 Bronx, NY) Sean Sullivan has presented work in recent solo exhibitions at Devening Projects in Chicago; Chris Sharp Gallery in Los Angeles and Linn Luehn in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has participated in group exhibitions at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, NY; the Ute Parduhn Galleries in Dusseldorf, Germany; and the Museum for Drawing, Huningen, Belgium. He received the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts Grant in 2017. He lives and works in the Hudson Valley, New York.
