Nothing happens, twice

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on September 6, 2018 at 2:50pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

Nothing Happens, Twice came up a second time for me in a random search.  I certainly appreciated the irony- and remember commenting on one of your multi-frame paintings some time ago. While I remember admiring the edginess of the painting Saving Clementine, on reflection the earlier piece appeared to depict a contemporary narrative while this work has a quality more consistent within your repertoire of film noir stills.  The trio of images within each side of the diptych is also reminiscent of visual distortion with a stereoscope, with separate left and right hand view of the same scene.  The tension created with anticipation of the reclining female body is curious.  It occurs to me the “natural” state of her body appears in the interior scene, whereas there is inexplicable discomfort seeing her laying outside on the grass.  Her male companion appears disinterested or at least nonchalant in his casual gesture- contrasting her less animated prone position. The velvety shadows further add mystery to their space- while realistically rendered, the smoothness equalizes the figures and grounds.