Not for sale
Bill Killebrew (b. 1960) is a Nashville native with a BFA in painting and printmaking from Middle Tennessee State University. Killebrew’s paintings capture what grabs his attention. Each elevates something commonplace or seemingly unimportant, making it the anchor of his figurative works. Influenced by Edouard Vuillard and Giorgio Morandi, Killebrew has been painting what he sees for decades to create what he refers to as “non-objective art.” Killebrew lets elements of light, an activity or event guide his painting process. The accumulation of thick paint from multiple brush strokes is a response to what is happening on the canvas at that time.
Killebrew was born in the south but moved around a lot as a child. He says that “the quality defined as Southern has become metaphorical and I am left with my upbringing by well-meaning family and an abstract sense of belonging to a place and time that no longer seems to exist.
“Each of my pictures is a representation of this concept, time and place as a metaphor. All my painting is abstract. I was raised by an Expressionist and even while becoming a painter of things, I have gravitated toward and aesthetic allowing for the introduction of the picture as a natural object in its own right, rather than a description of nature. Any significance achieved in the course of painting the picture is a significance drawn from memory”
Killebrew returned to his southern roots and currently lives in Whites Creek, Tennessee. He has received numerous awards for his artwork and has had over a dozen solo exhibitions in his career. His work is in public and private collections throughout the Southeastern United States. When he is not spending his time painting, Killebrew is also an accomplished guitarist and sailor.