A.J. Fries is a painter who was born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y. He is a graduate of the State University of New York College at Buffalo.  Fries has exhibited in Buffalo at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo Arts Studio, Hallwalls, and Big Orbit Gallery, among others. His work is included in many public and private collections, including those of theAlbright-Knox Art Gallery and the Burchfield Penney. In 2001 he was awarded a 3-month residency at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York, and in 2007 he received a full fellowship for a month-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center. Fries was designated one of the Burchfield Penney’s first “Living Legacy” artists in 2012.

 

Artist’s Statement:

My paintings are less about the images or scenes that they depict and more about my state of mind while interacting with them.

 

The purchase of my first digital camera several years ago, forever changed my creative process.  In the past, the majority of the subjects of my paintings were culled from mass media (magazines, internet, etc.).  With the camera I was able to have greater control of my imagery.  I carry it with me constantly, shooting not the typical beautiful snapshot, but the scenes on the periphery or the mundane.

It is my intention with my work to seek out the sublime in the banal.