Visionary character...

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on March 1, 2017 at 12:51pm

Curator’s Comment:

 

Thank you for bringing these new pieces to my attention!  I am especially fond of the Visionary Character who eats, plays and loves. The all-encompassing activities seem appropriate for the composite character, who exhibits a gestalt of contained ornamental and textual entities.  I’m somewhat reminded of Dubuffet’s brut works from the 1940’s; viscerally articulated animal and human bodies on a gritty textured ground. But this figure is arguably more animated and joyous in color and demeanor. I’m also very attracted to Three fades of Joy, though I admit to being somewhat perplexed by the titled.  The cat is rather iconic in it’s simple black form, but the graffiti like lines within its body and white scribbled paw eliminate a sleek form in favor of haptic expression. Rather than joy, the downturned face within the cat and misshapen legs emit a melancholy mood.  The bright red saturated ground allows for some visual reprieve, but I find the color to be an artful graphic decision rather than an emotional one.  The pure colors in other pieces- turquoise and orange, beautifully contrast the organic gestural and scrawled markings.  The flatness provides an unexpected juxtaposition of surfaces, and focuses attention on the incredibly constructed figures.