I Love America and America Loves Me
drawings by Stephen Floyd
at Heist Gallery

RECEPTION: November 3rd, 2009, 6:30-8:30 pm
EXHIBITION: November 4th, 2009 – December 18th, 2009

New York City, October 6, 2009 - Heist Gallery is proud to present an exhibition of political and sexually charged drawings by irreverent, Brooklyn-based artist Stephen Floyd.

The sixty-four works on view in I Love America and America Loves Me, curated by Valentina Angeloni and Daniel Basiletti, are depictions of common objects - boats, icons, food, maps, birds, space shuttles, toilets, panties, tents, flags - drawn on cream-colored paper and accompanied by text written in Floyd’s signature script.

“Through Floyd’s pithy, colorful commentary on familiar and reassuring images, current culturally-charged, controversial themes such as sex, race and politics are highlighted,” observes Heist Gallery owner Talia Eisenberg. “He transforms his (and our) everyday experiences, conversations, dirty jokes, subway ads, and media images, into provocative statements. He does not endeavor to give a moral value to any of his ideas, he simply points out that these cultural issues exist. Although there are many different ideas explored, there is one common element in this exhibition: uninhibited expression.”

“My work has been described as masturbatory, which I like because it’s true. My drawings are completely self-absorbed, self-indulgent, and made compulsively,” comments Floyd. “My mischievous personality is present in my drawings which makes them fun, light-hearted, and sometimes sinister and serious on another level.”

Floyd’s work can be as simple as it appears or as complicated as we want it to be: it is left to the viewer to decide whether his drawings come from a world of benevolence or a world of malice.

About Stephen Floyd: Stephen Floyd was born in Galveston, Texas. The son of a Coast Guard captain, Floyd spent his childhood moving between various coastal cities in the USA. Those experiences, along with his family’s colorful use of language, humor, and southern colloquialisms, profoundly influence his work. He studied Industrial Design at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, Typography at the School of Visual Arts, NYC, and attended an Arts Residency at Cooper Union, NYC.

This is Floyd's first solo exhibition in New York, following two solo exhibitions in Japan at the Butterfly•Stroke Gallery, Tokyo, and the Transpop Gallery, Kyoto. His work was also featured in group exhibitions at the SFT Gallery, National Art Center, Tokyo, and Flanders Gallery, Raleigh, NC, earlier this year.

About Heist Gallery: Heist Gallery, located in the heart of the Lower East Side, is a vibrant addition to the gallery scene. Always seeking to show work that inspires dialogue in the context of its rich and unique neighborhood, Heist Gallery adds a vital element to current rampant creativity.

Heist Gallery is located at 27 Essex Street (between Grand and Hester).

For media enquiries and further information, please contact:
Mark Langrish, LLR Consulting, markl@llrconsulting.com, 917 371 1325.
Laura Rubin, LLR Consulting, laura@llrconsulting.com, 917 861 2036