Never Too Much Checklist

Em Aull is an Indianapolis-born painter based in New York City. As a genre painter, his work depicts expansive cityscapes, city happenings, and crowd dynamics, often proposing fantastic scenarios of unbridled freedom. His compositions feature mass gatherings around entertainment, including wrestling matches, art exhibitions, demolition derby, film, literary and sporting events, or a day at the beach. Aull primarily paints with acrylic, often incorporating mixed media such as bricks, wood, and glass. He generates literal depth through layers of found materials encased in acrylic plastic substrate, incorporating media such as hype stickers from vintage records, lenticular sheeting, and ephemera from magazines and newspapers. The resulting artworks include relevant supplementary materials, generating an ever- evolving archive and personal record. His paintings create a timeline of references, interests, and studies that mark the progression of his practice. These found materials appear in Aull’s compositions as they would in life: a book in the hands of a person reading on the subway, billboards in cityscapes, or a picture on a television screen.

The title of his first solo show with the gallery, Never Too Much, references the Luther Vandross 1981 debut R&B song of the same title. To Aull, the best art is made without limits or compromise. Never too much is, in Aull’s words, “A beautiful way of saying, no compromise, or, by any means necessary.” The subjects in his paintings mash the artist’s lived experience, cultural influences, and aspirations into tender compositions of aspirational joy. Aull’s love is sincere, especially of painting, and he uses the process to slow down, examine, and expand on the inspiration and experiences that populate his life.

“I have always been a collector and my paintings have always reflected that. However, in the last 6 months, my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a condition her mother had, and it has taken my interest in portraying memories and moments in a different realm. I have begun to learn that memories are less what you hold onto and rather, how you enjoy and understand them. And I enjoy them and understand them in my paintings. My work in my paintings is to show those memories contextualized by my interactions with the viewer. And for me there is never too much work and never too much enjoyment to find in a painting.”

— Em Aull