EAST MEETS WEST IN COLOR THAT SINGS

Bill Buchman is a popular and prolific artist whose expressive work draws on his extensive musical background. Which is to say that a  deep familiarity with what is meant by a harmony, a melody, and a rhythm informs his every move with the brush. He is known for his abstractions, characterized as “symphonies of space, form and color” and his figures, described as “lightning bursts of energy condensed into a fine line”. His paintings and drawings offer a paradox: the works are bold and assertive yet their openness invites viewers to enter them and imagine their own stories.

Bill says, “Art has the power to transport us beyond our everyday experience. My painting language is built around the idea of communicating harmony, optimism, and, yes, even joy to fashion an experience of visual surprise with this goal in view. My aim is to make paintings that are inspirational and therapeutic. My own inspiration comes from a highly informed synthesis of the worlds of Zen painting, 20th century Modernism, and Jazz. The integration of these realms in my art leads to the discovery of new possibilities and unexpected realizations. With color, line, shape, and texture as the pure elements of my abstract and figurative vocabulary, I have forged my own unique pathway to visually explore, uncover, reveal and communicate the rhythms, melodies and harmonies of body and spirit.”

Bill Buchman’s art career spans more than 50 years. A native of New York State, Bill started his art education in his teens studying painting and drawing with well-known teachers Victor D’Amico, at the Institute of Modern Art, East Hampton, NY, and Fletcher Martin, at the Albany Institute of Art, in Albany, NY. Later, he attended Cornell University, School of Fine Arts, studying with abstract expressionist Robert Richenburg. Afterwards, at the New England Conservatory, Bill studied with piano greats, Jackie Byard and Ran Blake and received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Third Stream Music from there. Upon his graduation, Bill had several active years in Boston and then Los Angeles. In 1981 he relocated to Europe, first in Amsterdam, then in Paris. He ultimately made his home in Copenhagen where he worked, showed, and performed, primarily around Scandinavia, from 1985 to 2001. In 2001 Bill moved with his family to Sarasota, Florida where he undertook a new role as an art educator in addition to his expanding painting and music activities over the ensuing 20 years. In 2021  Bill made New York City the center of his activities and now lives and works there. Today, his art may be seen in private and public collections in the US, Denmark, Sweden, and England. He performs regularly with his jazz group, the Art of Jazz. In addition, Bill gives workshops and seminars on creativity, abstraction and figure drawing. He has made five instructional DVD’s on these subjects as well as written an innovative book on drawing, “Expressive Figure Drawing”. (Random House 2010).