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https://rhinohornartists.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/connecting-‐figures-‐new-‐humanism-‐in-‐recent-‐figurative-‐painting/
540 West 28th Street New York, NY, 10001 | 212 244 7415
Connecting Figures: New Humanism in Recent Figurative Painting APRIL 24, 2015 / RHINOHORNARTISTS
The formidable imagery of humanist painting has been troublesome to incorporate within the framework of today’s painting. In the 1960s and 70s when the art market was burgeoning for trendy “art of the day,” artists like those of the Rhino Horn group predicted the shape of things to come. In the group’s manifesto they stated:
“Realize when you see our work that the so-called “thirty years of painting and sculpture” in this country has been built on a lie; it has been packaged, promoted and super-sold by ambitious critics, dealers and curators trying to build their own reputation as they fatten their bankrolls.”
This quotation echoes in the Museum of Modern Art’s recent “Forever Now” exhibition, the museum’s first contemporary painting survey in three decades. MoMA is renowned for organizing groundbreaking painting survey’s such as Dorothy Canning Miller’s six contemporary exhibitions of American art, which introduced nearly one hundred American artists to the public. “Forever Now” was a far cry from the museum’s esteemed history of seminal contemporary painting surveys. The exhibition was loaded with (largely) derivative and abstract painting (albeit there were some gems in the show) by artists who are established art market favorites. There was very little work in the show that had an emotional impact, but rather an affirmation of the status quo. The influence of money makes the art world go round.
https://rhinohornartists.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/connecting-‐figures-‐new-‐humanism-‐in-‐recent-‐figurative-‐painting/
540 West 28th Street New York, NY, 10001 | 212 244 7415
Humanism in the arts is an evolving concept and goes against the evolution of the status quo. Since the heyday of Rhino Horn, there have been monumental changes in technology which has pushed the way our culture communicates and functions to new extremes. The paintings in “Forever Now” felt as if they were driven by technological and material energy. Therefore, I have compiled a list (which is only the beginning and will be constantly expanded) of contemporary painters who are swimming against the grain of technological impulses and art world trends. Their work is figurative and steeped in the concern for the human psyche and condition in times of crisis. In some cases their work explores absurd phenomena in our society, or questions the significance of life’s dualities. Sometimes it is meant to disturb, shock, and elicit a visceral response. Overall, they assert new meanings, add to the terminology, and interrogate the lineage of painting. Aaron Johnson:
Aaron Johnson, Demon Pig, 2015, Acrylic on polyester knit mesh
54 × 48 inches. Gallery Poulsen
https://rhinohornartists.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/connecting-‐figures-‐new-‐humanism-‐in-‐recent-‐figurative-‐painting/
540 West 28th Street New York, NY, 10001 | 212 244 7415
“In the current dismal state of the nation, viewing Johnson’s explosively grotesque paintings is suddenly a bit like looking in the mirror. As subtle as a popped blister, they ransack the cultural vernacular—Christianity, Thanksgiving, war, Michele Bachmann, Babe the Blue Ox—and spew it back in our face, with plenty of blood, guts, and bodily fluids. And let’s take a moment to appreciate that the announcement card for this show features the image of a military-helmeted dog crapping in Jesus’s mouth while fellating him. God Bless America.” – Scott Indrisek, Modern Painters, January 2011. Aaron Johnson has captivated my senses since I saw his solo show at STUX Gallery in 2011 (now Stux + Haller Gallery). His large scale canvases were engrained in an expressionist mode, with figurative narratives that were heavy on the burlesque and the political commentary. I get a very strong juxtaposition of a visceral and intellectual experience with Johnson’s figurative paintings. I also feel a connection between both the themes and medium of Johnson’s work and Nicholas Sperakis’ work during the Rhino Horn years. Sperakis used coffee grinds, beeswax, and other studio materials blended into his pigments, and Johnson uses cheesecloth, materials from his studio, and more recently (and ongoing) used crowd-sourced socks. Other links are to the work of Peter Dean and Peter Saul whose epic narratives blend reality within a fantasist world. One of the best contemporary paintings during the Armory week was Johnson’s Demon Pig, a monstrous composition in reference to the wave of injustice and unrest between police and the citizens they’re sworn to serve.
