Lay of the Land
Sebastian Gladstone•May 22, 2026 — Jul 02, 2026
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In his new show at Sebastian Gladstone Gallery in Los Angeles, Clayton Schiff has made the most arresting paintings of his career, images of the daily panorama that make it clear what we see is surreal, terrifying, mystifying. The canvases are exploding renderings of the uncanny, pushing Schiff to lean more into the ochres and violets of fresh earth. They feature his iconic dream-skewed people, wide-eyed in wonder, each let loose into Schiff’s distinct world.
The paintings come from walks. On a stroll recently in Forest Hills, Queens, Schiff stopped to cross the road, looking at a street sign. A mini-flock of birds were fighting, engaged in an ancient beak-stab dance to get a berry for their kids. Feathers went everywhere. Later Schiff was on a walk through Yonkers, a speck of green that’s been scalpel-driven into the city on the banks of the Hudson. Looking down, the tendrils of a tree were gnarling up the sidewalk and enveloping a man asleep using its trunk for a pillow. The roots…
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Lay of the Land
Sebastian Gladstone•May 22, 2026 — Jul 02, 2026
Press Release
In his new show at Sebastian Gladstone Gallery in Los Angeles, Clayton Schiff has made the most arresting paintings of his career, images of the daily panorama that make it clear what we see is surreal, terrifying, mystifying. The canvases are exploding renderings of the uncanny, pushing Schiff to lean more into the ochres and violets of fresh earth. They feature his iconic dream-skewed people, wide-eyed in wonder, each let loose into Schiff’s distinct world.
The paintings come from walks. On a stroll recently in Forest Hills, Queens, Schiff stopped to cross the road, looking at a street sign. A mini-flock of birds were fighting, engaged in an ancient beak-stab dance to get a berry for their kids. Feathers went everywhere. Later Schiff was on a walk through Yonkers, a speck of green that’s been scalpel-driven into the city on the banks of the Hudson. Looking down, the tendrils of a tree were gnarling up the sidewalk and enveloping a man asleep using its trunk for a pillow. The roots…
























































































































