Ed Templeton
Synthetic Suburbia
Roberts & Tilton
5801 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232
April 25 – May 30, 2015

Now on view at Roberts & Tilton, Synthetic Suburbia is an exhibition of new paintings by Ed Templeton, who many may know as a photographer, and particularly for his recent images of the pier at Huntington Beach. This collection of photographs, not unlike his earlier, similarly voyeuristic projects Teenage Smokers and Teenage Kissers aesthetically, offers a deeper psychological study of everyday life through the continued documentation of this peculiar space and its inhabitants. Templeton, a photographer, professional skateboarder, and founder and manager of Toy Machine, is also a painter, and the exhibition at Roberts & Tilton features his recent paintings of Huntington Beach. Templeton’s photographs offer a strong social commentary, and the paintings of Synthetic Suburbia clarify and dramatize these observations with an appropriately bittersweet blend of humor and honesty.

Ed Templeton, Huntington Beach Pier #1, 2015. Acrylic on panel, diptych: 48 x 96 inches. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.

Ed Templeton, Huntington Beach Pier #1, 2015. Acrylic on panel, diptych: 48 x 96 inches. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.

 

Ed Templeton, Huntington Beach Pier #2 (Get Divorced), 2015. Acrylic on panel, diptych: 48 x 96 inches. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.

Ed Templeton, Huntington Beach Pier #2 (Get Divorced), 2015. Acrylic on panel, diptych: 48 x 96 inches. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.

 

Installation view, "Synthetic Suburbia," Ed Templeton at Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, 2015. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.

Installation view, “Synthetic Suburbia,” Ed Templeton at Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, 2015. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.

 

Installation view, "Synthetic Suburbia," Ed Templeton at Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, 2015. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.

Installation view, “Synthetic Suburbia,” Ed Templeton at Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, 2015. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton.