Sean Landers: Beyond the Clown

I can hear you all screaming- Not more clowns!! With the deepest of apologies I just have to show you some paintings by American artist Sean Landers who just happens to like painting the occasional clown. Below are three paintings from his Around the World Alone series with the lonely clown. The first is Around the World Alone (The Holy Hermit) created in 2011, oil on linen.

Around the World Alone (Force Ten Stalwart) 2011, oil on linen.Credit: seanlanders.net
Credit: seanlanders.net

Sean Landers is an American conceptual artist, best known for using his personal experience as public subject matter and for utilizing diverse styles and media in a performative manner. Through the use of painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, writing, video and audio, regardless of the medium, Landers reveals the process of artistic creation through humor and confession, gravity and pathos.

He blurs the lines between fact and fiction, reality and fantasy, sincerity and insincerity, while presenting a portrait of the artist’s consciousness. The twin strategies of personal material and formal multiplicity allow him to infiltrate his viewers’ consciousness with raw truths about contemporary society, and the art world in particular. A collateral effect is the viewers’ identification with the artist, which allows for a deeper understanding of their humanity. (http://www.seanlanders.net/biography)

Above: Around the World Alone (Arctic Endurance) 2011, oil on linen. (Credit: seanlanders.net)

The Hero Image is Sailor Jack and Bingo (2016) by Sean Landers, Oil on linen, (48 x 41 in). Please follow the link to enjoy a superb gallery on images.

Credit: seanlanders.net

But in the meantime we have to talk about Heads. And to get us started please take a moment to browse this article by Scott Indrisek where he talks bout Why It’s Refreshing When White Male Artists Doubt Themselves. And one of the artists willing to confess to self-doubt is New York–based Sean Landers. And that's why I showed you some of his paintings of clowns because within their heads is enormous timidity and diffidence. If you want to check out more of Sean Landers paintings featuring the lonely clown as he fights self doubt in sailing the high seas follow this direct link to Landers Nautical Clowns.

The paintings included in Around the World Alone depict the solo-circumnavigating sailor-clown ranging in age from young boy to old man. Punctuated by contemplative scenes, the hero can be seen progressing in age as he battles the ferocious seas and storms in his seaworthy boat S.V. Monos. (Wikipedia)