Sharon Butler's second solo show at Theodore:Art features paintings derived from Instagram drawings

In October 2018, Sharon Butler debuted her second solo exhibition at Theodore:Art in Bushwick, showcasing fifteen 18 x 24-inch painted canvas boards alongside two large unstretched canvases, all produced during a month-long residency at Yaddo. The artist transformed over 700 Instagram sketches from 2016 to 2018 into paintings through the PicsArt app, utilizing geometric shape tools. These digital creations reflect a personal narrative during a challenging time marked by her teenage daughter's struggles with the opioid crisis and the rise of Donald Trump. Butler describes the paintings' "dull surface" as reminiscent of trauma, contrasting with digital brightness. Gallery director Stephanie Theodore noted the floating effect of the canvas boards, hung with French cleats suggested by photographer Regina DeLuise. Balancing her art with teaching at Parsons, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and New York Academy of Art, Butler has also managed the blog Two Coats of Paint since 2007. In an interview with Leslie Wayne, she discusses her influences, including Tom Nozkowski and On Kawara, and how political anxiety shapes contemporary art. Notably, her daughter has been in recovery for over eight months.