‘UNRAVELING REALITIES’ – CURATED BY HASH HALPER & AMY LI
OCT 17-31, 2013
166 MOTT ST – LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
that would be: LOLA MONTES, NICOLE WITTENBERG, and JESSICA BAJOROS
another apparition . . caught my eye.
a strange contrast of sharp lemon yellow vs. a steely blue grey.
LOLA MONTES, ‘Karma Cleanse’, oil and canvas, 2 panels, 6.5′ w x 5′ h
($18,000)
whoosh. one can get, so into . . how the abstract pink ‘cloud’ on the right, morphs into the narrative world on the left.
the ethereal power of a light, and light-filled .. hand.
at the opening:
AMY LI, LOLA MONTES, and NICOLE WITTENBERG . . in front of Lola’s painting.
NICOLE WITTENBERG, ‘Interior 2 (Snail Song)’, oil on canvas, 25 x 42 in.
($5,000)
really nice 2 tonal study. very cubist. should be a study in stark contrast, but is .. not !!
super nice visual contrast between reality and fantasy. reality and fiction. darkness and light. the pureness of white.
I guess the ‘white’ is the subject, and the narrative is that strange miniature-scaled doorway, and the squiggle lines .. to the right.
NICOLE WITTENBERG, her small minimalist composition is above her.
on the right is a small watercolor figure study by JESSICA BAJORES.
part of the dynamic, and really .. the charm of the gallery, is catching a glimpse of the ‘life’ just beyond the gallery walls. the Chinatown storefront is home to a leather accessory finishing .. workshop.
JESSICA BAJOROS had two watercolor portraits in the show.
JESSICA BAJOROS, ‘Henry Hopper’, watercolor on paper, framed. 25 x 21 in.
($1,000)
Henry Hopper is the son of Dennis Hopper. he seems to be a really nice kid, I talked to him briefly at his dad’s retrospective a few years back at Tony Shafrazi, at which time he was studying art, painting .. in California.
JESSICA BAJOROS, ‘Zha Zha Vi’, watercolor on paper, framed, 20.5 x 17 in.
($1,000)
photographer of street art, really .. ‘down-deep-in-the-subways’ street art / photographer supremo .. SEAN VEGEZZI.
something about a fall off a cliff, into water .. where there was no water.
just do yourself a favor this Sat & check out: SEAN VEGEZZI – ONLINE
3 smart, strong chicks ..
and one totally awesome, street smart photog .. what more is there to say ?
from the power of the glyphs, to the power of .. chicks.
ok, how’s this . . SEAN is all of 22.
I’ve been following his work – since he was 16, when I first crossed paths with him at the original CANAL CHAPTER / MINT + SERF = MIRF.
SEAN VEGEZZI unravels . . reality, too.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~LOLA & NICOLE, JESSICA . . UNRAVELING REALITIES / SEAN VEGEZZI, does too .. |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 2nd, 2013, 11:12am
WC BEVAN, a man out of time, and really into . . glyphs !!
oh, yeah . .
HASH HALPER . . also curated a show of WC BEVAN’S work simultaneously, at his PELL ST. CHINATOWN venue.
up those steep stairs, remember ?
called: ‘WC BEVAN .. A MAN OUT OF TIME’, Hash posted the exhibit to FRANK, with the pix by WC, himself.
and where we find out . . the W stands for WILLIAM, but more importantly .. the ‘C’ stands for .. CODY.
yep, as in . . the famous BUFFALO BILL.
check out: WC BEVAN, THE MAN OUT OF TIME / FRANK151
WC BEVAN . . a man named after BUFFALO BILL – PHOTO BY: M. HENRY JONES
photo permission via FRANK: HASH HALPER PRODUCTIONS.
P.S.
M. HENRY JONES, damn . . that is one great, GREAT, GREAT .. PHOTO.
must have been . . the vodka !!
~WC BEVAN . . A MAN OUT OF TIME / HH |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 1st, 2013, 11:14am
the show closed yesterday, but a few larger pieces remain up & AMY LI always keeps some choice pieces . . in her backroom.
FILE UNDER: THE POWER OF THE ‘GLYPH’.
‘UNRAVELING REALITIES’ – curated by HASH HALPER & AMY LI
OCT 17 – 31, 2013
166 MOTT ST – ALTERNATIVE ART SPACE, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
curator & 166 Mott St founder .. AMY LI, with WC BEVAN .. and his large painting, of a dream.
a television dream.
a ghost in the machine .. television dream.
WC BEVAN, ‘Painting of a Television Dream by WILLIAM BEVAN’.
homemade carbon ink and acrylic on wood (tax files and East River water), 30 x 40 in.
($2,500)
detail, W.C. BEVAN, ‘Television Dream’.
damn, if today is not . . the DAY OF THE DEAD.
the sky is dark and stormy, the wind is howling, angry. and, I swear . . some otherly body just entered my partially open back porch door and knocked over the watering can. oh yes, indeed.
I wonder who that could be, as if . . I don’t know !!
Simon. see .. the wind died down, just like that.
detail, WC BEVAN, ‘Television Dream’.
walk, should say .. ‘detail’ – like an Egyptian.
my friend Reno tells me that the Egyptians believed in a RA and a Ba and a third entity more like a shadow. as in Shadowland, anybody ?!!
The Ra goes to the heavenly world and the Ba stays in this one. I mean how else does one reconcile, the 2 aspects. the ‘soul’ going to heaven, or hell / vs the ghostly bodies that still hang around, and cling to this sphere. pressing their heads against your window, and flitting by, sometimes even handing you .. messages, to deliver, if you happen to live in .. South America.
Apparently the Ba mostly stayed around the tomb or burial site, but because it had wings it could go elsewhere.
all the ancients across the board knew this. every proto-nation. every religion.
my fave is BOB MARLEY, who recounts in that great film bio .. that he learnt to sing so fearlessly, and so FIERCE .. by singing in the cemetery at night, to the ‘duppies’, the ghosts of the dead, and make that: the UNHAPPY ghosts of the dead.
‘Nuh Duppy come out, me fear nuh Duppy”.
interestingly, duppy . . has taken on some modern day twists. DUPPY, URban Dictionary.
DUPPY play a big role in island folklore, and came to America with the ‘commercially’ traded black folks. and thus entered our vernacular, and our culture.
don’t miss the reference to AVRAM DAVIDSON’s 1961 short story, ‘Where Do You Live, Queen Esther’, as told, in wiki . .
DUPPY- wiki.
well, I mean the show is called .. “Unraveling Realities’, just sayin’.
WC BEVAN also had some smaller drawings on paper . . in the gallery storefront window.
the last one, on the right is titled: ‘Call Me A Kettle Pot to Z Dream Spot, Yip’.
nice choice of words. very nice.
homemade, as in DIY .. carbon ink on paper (framed), 15 x 12 in.
($400)
it’s also interesting to see how small, pop-up galleries make use of all the space they can.
it’s also interesting to consider, what goes on in the mind . . of the ‘older’ bio / generation.
and just a step away from becoming .. you know what – themselves !!
dig that woman, on the right, for example.
let me tell ya, these people .. know a thing, or two.
I mean, just look at this woman . .
is she thinkin’ something, or what.
all black and white, and ‘red’ .. all over.
love the way her lace collar inset – echoes the glyph work.
hipster !!
hipster on the road .. to becoming a .. ghost.
ok. totally off the track: talking bout baby boomers.
did anybody else catch that KHLOE KARDASHIAN .. didn’t know what ‘baby boomer’ meant, haha.
how fast we expire. but she does presumably know what .. ‘crackhead’ means.
talkin’ bout: shelf life.
WC BEVAN, pen on paper drawings in the window. 15 x 12 in.
homemade carbon ink.
I mean .. glyph man ERIK PARKER, move over .. or at least share the ‘shade’.
. . the shelf.
speaking of the dude. must have a ‘fan’ out there in the web sphere.
or is that .. just an auto digital prompt ? aka the .. real ‘ghost in the machine’.
lordy, who knows .. reality, these days.
and I mean .. that. on all levels.
bio, digital, or as many as you can: ‘imagine’.
damn words – give me . . glyphs !!
but this, just came in .. over the wire.
ERIK PARKER opens his 3rd solo show with HONOR FRASER this weekend.
called: ‘New Magnetic Destiny’ .. it runs NOV 2 – DEC 21, 2013.
the opening is tomorrow: SAT NOV 2, 2013 / 6-8 PM
HONOR FRASER GALLERY – 2622 S. LA CIENGA BLVD, L.A> CALIFORNIA.
WC BEVAN, ‘Grape Television’, pen on paper (framed), 15 x 12 in.
homemade/DIY carbon ink.
($400)
IMAGE: DALTON GATA GARCIA, ‘Dia de los Muertos 1’, 2013
ink on paper, 8.5 x 11 in.
speaking of which, the Junior Committee of .. EL MUSEO del BARRIO invites you to their annual fundraising benefit tonight, FRI NOV 1, 2013 / 8 PM
the evening will feature a traditional altar, live music and DJ sets and ‘special’ holiday food and drink .. including .. Pan de Muertos.
more info: Dia de los Muertos gala / El Museo del Barrio
MORE PIX FROM THE 166 MOTT ST. OPENING – WILL POST SHORTLY.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~WC BEVAN . . UNRAVELING REALITIES / DAY OF THE DEAD / EL MUSEO del BARRIO |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | November 1st, 2013, 8:48am
EVERYBODY !!
detail, WC BEVAN . . ‘Painting of a Television Dream by William Bevan’.
homemade carbon ink and acrylic on wood (tax files and East River water), 30 x 40 in.
($2,500)
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
in ‘UNRAVELING REALITIES’ . . CURATED BY HASH HALPER and AMY LI
OCT 17 – 31, 2013
166 MOTT ST – LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
with works by:
LOLA MONTES, WC BEVAN, ALFREDO MARTINEZ, JESSICA BAJOROS, NICOLE WITTENBERG, and RACHEL AMODEO.
PIX FROM THE OPENING . . POST TOMORROW – FRI NOV 1.
NOTE: There will be a screening of RACHEL AMODEO’S .. 87 minute b+w cult film, ‘WHAT ABOUT ME’, 1993.
at the gallery this SUN NOV 3, 2013 – starting at 6 PM.
~HAPPY, GHOSTLY . . HALLOWEEN |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 31st, 2013, 9:22am
‘ADIEU SEPTEMBER’ . . has been extended thru .. FRI NOV 15, 2013
SPACE WOMB GALLERY . . 22-48 JACKSON AVE #1 – LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS
HRS: 12 NOON – 6PM / WED – OPEN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
7, G, E & M TRAINS – COURT SQ. STOP/JACKSON AVE EXIT
see: SPACE WOMB
MIDORI OKUYAMA . . tell us that the show is very exciting, and that SPACE WOMB has just recently acquired a new location on the Lower East Side – more news on that, as it comes in.
Midori has 2 pieces in this big group show.
I first saw Midori’s work in the recent . . ‘NO CONSENT’ show, which was the first exhibit at AMY LI’S . . 166 MOTT STREET.
Good luck .. to all.
IMAGE: MIDORI OKUYAMA
see: MIDORI OKUYAMA
POSTER ILLUSTRATIONS:
TOP IMAGE: KIYOUNG KIM . . ‘TWIN’.
LOWER IMAGE: MARJORIE VAN CURA . . ‘UNTITLED’ 0912.
BOTH ARTWORKS ARE IN THE EXHIBIT.
~ADIEU SEPTEMBER . . SPACE WOMB |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 30th, 2013, 6:29am
ok. the last word on the KENT DORN show.
KENT DORN . . . ‘SHADOWLAND’
OCT 17 – NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24tH ST – CHELSEA, NYC
it’s strange to consider, or at least an indication of what’s on the table here . . to see what a dominant, and yet undefined, against-the-grain role .. the painterly orbs of the sun, and/or the moon .. play in these paintings. in a show titled: ‘Shadowland’, these light sources .. go, well .. pale. cold.
alert, warning. biosphere .. break-down.
society .. break-up. culture dead-end. the end of the ‘hippies’, and Woodstock is .. over.
way over.
although there is a ‘glow’ of light around these cosmic light sources, they don’t really heat up, or light up the paintings.
nor the activities within the narrative.
it’s not that the paintings are really that dark, as much as they are .. cause for pause. but there were also some very optimistic notes in the show, namely .. two candlelit paintings. where the glow of the tiny flicker that a candle burns with, a man-made radiance, extends much further than the cosmic-scaled rays of the suns of the larger .. landscape paintings.
something to think .. about.
these paintings are not just about compositional/plastic virtues, or narrative consequences. I’m thinking, with the inclusion of these 2 paintings .. it’s us, the one, the human .. against .. the universe.
bio singularity in a digital world, counts.
the individual contributing .. to the collective unconscious, counts.
with the emphasis being on .. the difference, the impact .. one passionate voice, one tweeting person can make – as our bio world degrades, the cosmos is unraveled, our sun is discovered to have a finite life span, and we are more machine, more ‘half computer’ .. everyday.
and apparently, performance enhancing drugs .. are up next.
TRINEE.
the opening was fun. the paintings were serious, but more in the sense of something .. to really get your mind around.
not ‘burn’ you out.
even Rebecca Goyette’s video, gross as it was .. was ridiculous, theatrical .. in your face .. clueless. you could walk away, and laugh it off.
candle in a glass jar.
KENT DORN, ‘Untitled (Seance)’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 45 x 35.
($5,000)
omg, are we really calling up the dead here, crossing over to the other side . . ?
no wonder the show .. spooked me.
it was like bookends. a candle in a glass jar / and a candle in a Chianti bottle. kind of like, jam meets wine ? and a little flame .. ignites ?
both titled: Seance.
somebody else can write on that .. I’m done talking. I’m just laying down the tarot cards, one by one.
KENT DORN, ‘Untitled (Seance)’, 2013
mixed media on canvas, 45 x 35 in.
($5,000)
ok, listen up .. up there.
if the sun don’t shine, and the moon don’t, either.
at least that little candlelight of mine .. can.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~KENT DORN .. SHARE THE LIGHT |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 29th, 2013, 8:56am
MORE PIX FROM THE OPENING . .
KENT DORN . . . ‘SHADOWLAND’
& video projection in the back room by REBECCA GOYETTE
OCT 17 – NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24TH ST – CHELSEA, NYC
KENT DORN and NICK LAWRENCE at the opening.
I’m so . . into ‘big’ hats. Hash Halper wears one too.
CORY in front of KENT DORN’S . . . ‘Almost Paradise.’
KENT DORN, ‘Almost Paradise’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 45 x 60 in.
($8,000)
so I was wondering why Nick would pair REBECCA GOYETTE’S over-the-top video with a KENT DORN show.
maybe this painting is a clue . . .”almost paradise”, anybody ?
even with 2 suns, this painting also says: paradise lost.
KENT DORN, ‘Shadowland’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 75 x 60 in.
($14,000)
2 suns ?
maybe that’s a truly .. mutated world, of the future.
it’s kind of a ‘fierce’ .. image / metaphor.
well they both, GOYETTE and DORN have a lot to say about water, though one references the secret and terrifying ‘life’ beneath salt sea water . . while the later, Kent Dorn: the ‘mystery’ life atop a kind of ‘fading glory’ .. lake water. they both speak .. ‘fierce’.
esp in terms of pure visual ‘technique’.
they both speak to human desire, and ‘mating’. and degrading. ritual. being lost, and not in control.
though it’s a bit of a . . raw call. an over-the-top contrast.
but while Ms. Goyette, is deliberately .. very trashy in her expression, she is at least racially diverse. Mr. Dorn zeros in a counter culture that is all white, and counter culture trashy. but then, the painting is damn: serious.
both are very: entertaining. for all the darkness, it’s really just .. food for thought.
a kind of a visual ‘fish’ food . . that comes drifting down the everyday pipeline.
I mean it’s strange to write about. Rebecca’s work is so outrageous, so fun, and yet ultimately, reads .. sad.
Kent Dorn’s work .. is harder to peg.
it skews ‘dark’, and yet .. reads extremely beautiful.
I’m sure someone could dig into those 2 opposing landscapes, and come up .. with a book.
Almost Paradise . .
human behavior . . for the soft-fleshed creatures we are, with brains, and comprehensive history, Kent Dorn’s paintings aren’t that far from saying . . what Ms. Goyette is saying ..
maybe we do need . . shells.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~KENT DORN . . ALMOST PARADISE |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 28th, 2013, 10:24am
REBECCA GOYETTE has a ‘performative’ video screening in the projection room, as well.
OCT 17 – NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24TH ST – CHELSEA, NYC
the opening had it’s theatrical moments, mostly provided by Ms. Goyette, although this BANKSY wannabe duo, was making the rounds that night, as well.
BANKSY, not.
FANTASTIC NOBODIES, yes.
that be DAVID HENRY BROWN JR, making an almost plausible Banksy, minus the t-shirt (!!), with his partner in crime, MARC GRUBSTEIN as Little Bo Peep.
speaking of which, Little Bo Peep .. straight out of Mother Goose – 2 unicorn mermaids, courtesy of Ms. Goyette .. wandered around dispensing saltwater taffy.
was I the only one to think it was . . a tray of colorfully wrapped condoms, at first glance ?
Province Town based REBECCA GOYETTE graduated from RISD and went on to get her MFA from SVA, here in NYC.
apart from her well-placed ‘tail’, her ‘lobsta’ rendition, at least at this opening .. was rather colorful, but subdued.
according to the National Geographic .. she shoulda come out swinging . . those padded claws !!
not to mention squirting drug enhanced ‘urine’ from a bladder – atop her head.
if you really want to get into the mood this Sunday, you know, art meets science head on .. just google: sex life of lobsters . . which has been described as “an endless round of ruthless, ritualized violence, and kinky, territorial sex practices that would make a porn star blush.” source: SALON.
here’s a few starters.
see: KINKY SEX SECRETS of LOBSTERS .. SALON.COM
see: UNKNOWN LIFE of LOBSTERS .. NAT GEO
in which case .. Ms. Goyette comes off as rather: soft, fuzzy. and cute ?
but yo, Miley Cyrus . . heads up !!
tongues out, is way over.
here’s your next move. put a squirting bladder on top of your head.
the video, in the back room . . starts off . . Pilgrimish.
but then goes quickly south, though not really violent.
more like, black humor ?
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~REBECCA GOYETTE . . F+V |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 27th, 2013, 8:46am
MORE PIX FROM THE OPENING . .
KENT DORN . . . ‘SHADOWLAND’
OCT 17 – NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24TH ST – CHELSEA
KENT DORN, ‘Outsiders’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 80 x 60 in.
($15,000)
I like this particular piece because it’s about .. outsiders. just joking. NOT !!
I like the way it has a foot in both camps. the sunlight does manage to come through, the vast darkness of the woods . . the guitar player, and the little dog lapping water, the ‘shared’ social overtones. the vast growth, and the flowing water. still not polluted, not submerged in litter or pollution.
but the rural life is bittersweet, there’s a feeling things are not all they should be .. life’s not that sunny. the forest is degrading, tree limbs are breaking in front of our eyes, the water seems . . icy cold.
there’s a dead end there, lurking just off center.
a vacuous in the faces, that says these are not just revelers, these are hard-times folks.
it’s bittersweet, one foot in the light, and one foot in the dark.
it’s interesting to note the contrast between this show and Kent Dorn’s previous solo show, at FREIGHT+VOLUME . . back in NOV 2010.
in his previous show, titled: ‘REMAINS” . . it was a little heavy going on the portraits, of which .. single portraits there are none – in this show. a nice evolution. it’s nice to see how he moves around in his ‘gray’ area, rather than being ‘trapped’ by it.
see: BIG STREET PARTY/KENT DORN
see: KENT DORN/more opening pix
detail, ‘Outsiders’.
things are not quite as dramatic as a car crash. but they still speak .. plenty.
though the narrative is still there .. to draw out, reflecting off the way the world has moved forward (?), since 2010. though it seems to be afternoon, it feels more night, than .. day.
but not totally .. creepy. just hazy, just at that midpoint, where good meets bad.
light meets dark.
detail, ‘Outsiders’
the painterly technique has evolved, too. it’s a touch cooler, still dramatic, but kind of submerged, like a pulse rather than a shout. with delicate moments, among the big brushstrokes.
flat and linear areas flares up, just as easily as those that are built-up, with painterly 3-D modelling . .
all good.
detail, ‘Outsiders’.
the detailing .. is a road trip – all in itself.
as in most of Kent Dorn’s paintings, esp the landscapes, the sun .. and sometimes the moon, and sometimes both – is really a big part of the game.
a big multi-layered concept / metaphor . . to consider.
a big aspect of the emotional content.
this painting also really fascinated me. it had a sun, and a moon, and a . . vignette.
the light from the sun and the moon . .
vignette: “a brief evocative description, account or episode.”
vignette: “a small illustration or portrait ‘photograph’ that fades into its background, without a definite border.”
source: define vignette
KENT DORN, ‘Campfire Song (Waiting for the Eclipse)’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 72 x 96 in.
($16,000)
there is always a surface play – a physical approach to the paint – that is a trip in and of itself, but that also, obviously .. informs the narrative, and contributes to that sense of ‘darkness’.
it’s also a balancing act. counter-balancing, really.
the paint is applied with such ‘passion’ .. yet the overall result is: cool. dark abstract, haunting.
both scratched in, and . . layered over.
nice scene, the red tent and the fire .. the glow around all, yet .. darkness prevails.
sadness prevails.
it’s almost oriental . . in it’s gray area, no border yin yang approach.
it’s not, your standard . . gung ho Americana, that for sure.
MORE PIX FROM THE OPENING . . POSTING SUNDAY.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~KENT DORN . . SHADOWLAND .. PART II |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 25th, 2013, 9:20am
KENT DORN . . . ‘SHADOWLAND’
opened THURS, OCT 17, 2013
the show runs thru NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24TH ST – CHELSEA, NYC
TURNS OUT, NICK LAWRENCE & HIS FREIGHt+VOLUME CREW . . HAVE ANOTHER ONE OF THE LIVELIEST, & SERIOUSLY !! PAINTERLY . . SHOWS TO OPEN SO FAR, THIS SEASON. THE OCT/NOV LINE-UP IS – A CRUCIAL MONTH FOR THE GALLERY SCENE. IT’S WHEN THE BIG COLLECTORS COME OUT TO BUY THEMSELVES SOME PRETTY HOLIDAY TRINKETS . . TO HANG ON THEIR WALLS.
NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE PAT-ON-THE-BACK TROPHY ART .. ESP WHEN, IT’S .. THE REAL DEAL.
PIX FROM THE OPENING – PART I
painter KENT DORN, NICK LAWRENCE of FREIGHT+VOLUME, and ERIN SIUDZINSKY. . . at the opening.
KENT DORN, ‘HOME’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 72 x 96 in.
($16,000)
this show is KENT DORN’S 3rd exhibition and 2nd solo show at FREIGHT+VOLUME. the Texas-based, Carolina-born painter, b. 1977 . . currently lives and works in Houston.
‘suns’, and sometimes .. ‘moons, and . . their eerie light figure prominently in Mr. Dorn’s paintings. they anchor the narrative and help ‘cast’ the spell. worldly and yet decidedly .. other worldly, these paintings move into the dark, just as easily as they reference landscape.
from the gallery:
“with a nod to horror movies, hippie counterculture, and the rural Southern landscape of his youth, Dorn’s distinct landscape paintings are not as concerned with an idyllic representation of nature as much as as constructing a virtual stage for an unfolding melodrama.Littered with debris, overgrowth and remnants of past inhabitants, his landscapes are a conflation of the real and the imaginary, where myths come to life.”
read: more
the backgrounds turn towards the dark, dark secrets .. esp when the paint volume, as opposed to the realist ‘subject’ . . is turned, way up. expressionistic, detailed pointillism merges with free form impasto.
what . . goes on in this houseboat ?
there’s a sun, but it sure ain’t .. no sunny day.
yep. there’s some serious dark poetry, some mystery, some human depth .. in these canvas narratives. not quite a moment in time, as a deeper , darker dream unfolding.
lyrical, not.
haunting, yes.
the dark, on the other side . . of ‘counterculture’. the underbelly – the deeper, darker, sadder seams and dreams .. of the American dream ?
I guess that’s why they call the show: ‘Shadowland’.
paintings with an ‘afterlife’ . . all of Kent Dorn’s paintings, do not end at the canvas edges.
they turn over, turn inward, kind of tunnel down into the deeper recesses, like glow worms.
they continue, well on into further viewings and .. musings.
and, yeah initially you do come away, kind of stunned.
KENT DORN, ‘Outsiders’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 80 x 60 in.
($15,000)
TO BE CONTINUED.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~KENT DORN . . SHADOWLAND .. F+V |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 24th, 2013, 7:45am
