“The universe is a moving, spinning place… I have always been drawn to things that convey this energy.” As a university student focusing on kinetic sculpture, as a filmmaker, and now as a painter, for contemporary artist Bill Snider, this kinetic energy is central to his work. 

For Snider the process behind his work is just as significant as the final product itself. He applies paint in strokes, drips, and splatters. This paint is then partially sanded off, revealing subtle hue and value changes. This subtractive sanding process is just as important to him as the application of paint. The result is a dynamic, graphic, and visually stunning piece that shows the physicality of his methods and his painting process. But he’s got a no frills philosophy in his work: painting with basic brushes, paint from the hardware store, and letting the art reveal itself in each step. Between each of, perhaps 12 to 20 layers, Snider sands down his works to create paintings that uniquely reflect his artistic choices and discoveries.

The work has a wonderful juxtaposition of strong graphics and a painterly sensibility. The dynamic shapes and confident palate are prominent, yet loose marks and splattered color infuse the work with a spontaneous, energetic quality. The scratched, scribbled, sprayed processes employed in the pieces have an urban flavor that is reminiscent of the graffiti movement. Snider refers to his most recent style as “refined expressionism.”