Exploring the world opened up by a work of art
This week’s showcase:
Carlos Gomez Mojica
“Dialogo Con Mis Excesos”
Charcoal on canvas, 55″ x 71″
Coping in a time of Isolation and unease — as seen in Art.
Carlos Gomez Mojica’s “Dialogo Con Mis Excesos” (Dialog With My Excesses) posits as many questions as it answers. Still, this mesmerizing charcoal drawing (yes, really, it’s not a photograph) opens up a world of contemplation that deserves revisiting time and again. For me, I keep coming back because of the insane realism with charcoal that Gomez has mastered, and also the sheer curiosity of his narrative.
At first blush the easy inference of “See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil” plays out as a simplistic preface, but the artist’s title invites us to dig deeper. “Who’s in dialog with whom?” “Who or what are the Excesses?” And “What’s that gauze all about?”
To me, several things emerge:
- The agonizingly rendered gauze, a binding element between the three figures, both protective and debilitating at the same time.
- The penetrating gaze of the girl (right) looking directly at the viewer, disarming and unpredictable (what does she know?).
- The two eyeless Ravens that are casually perched on bare shoulders, (ouch) — equally disquieting. (Are they the seers or maybe the orators of this conversation?)
- The dreamy “la la land” girl (left), unfazable and most likely traumatized.
- And the otherwise preoccupied and blinded girl (center) acting as the vertex of this female trinity.
. . . They all beg the question — “What the #@$% is going on here?”
And maybe, just maybe, that’s the point. It’s alright not to know what’s happening, or what it’s all about, or whether there’s a right or wrong interpretation.
Just go wherever it takes you.
This painting took me squarely into the middle of my own complicated feelings about living and coping in today’s not so “brave new world,” feelings of sensory overload and conflicting emotions of whether or not to look, to listen or to speak.
You, on the other hand, may find yourself veering into the interpretive realm of dalliances, secrets and lies, identity and power.
. . . Maybe the Ravens know and just aren’t telling.
Previous Featured Artwork Posts
Out of Isolation #1 – Lawrence Gipe – 04/9/2020
Out of Isolation #2 – Wosene Worke Kosrof – 04/16/2020
Out of Isolation #3 – Elena Zolotnitsky – 04/23/2020
Out of Isolation #4 – Oscar Camilo de las Flores – 04/30/2020
Out of Isolation #5 – Nikolai Atanassov – 05/07/2020
Out of Isolation #6 – Harry Carmean – 05/13/2020
Out of Isolation #7 – Chris Blum – 05/20/2020
Out of Isolation #8 – Patrick Duegaw – 05/27/2020
OUT OF ISOLATION #1
Out of Isolation #1 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Lawrence Gipe, "Thames, 1946" Oil on canvas, 48" x 60", 2017-2018 While it is evident that these merry souls are not practicing proper "social distancing", they certainly do exude a familiar sense of isolation in an otherwise dark and moody time. To be more precise, Gipe's [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #2
Out of Isolation #2 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Wosene Worke Kosrof "Queen of Words II," Acrylic on linen, 25" x 20", 2017 The world according to Wosene Worke Kosrof is one of non-stop talking. Everything and everyone can't seem to get enough of the latest gossip of a thousand story tellers that fill the [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #3
Out of Isolation #3 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Elena Zolotnitsky "After the Shower," Oil on paper, 24" x 23.25" custom framed Time to reflect is an unexpected luxury of "Isolation." An expansive opportunity made possible by being forced to stop . . . then listen, look, imagine, feel . . . repeat. Until suddenly, [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #4
Out of Isolation #4 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Oscar Camilo de las Flores "El Gran General" Conte crayon on paper, 79" x 50.5" The "Big Macs" are his balls. . . . but wait there's more, much more. . . . OMG, TMI. Made you look. Too much information can be disturbing, deadly in [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #5
Out of Isolation #5 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Nikolai Atanassov "Last Days of the World" Oil on canvas, 70" x 207" Spoiler Alert! Isolation Mandate to End on "The Last Days of the World." In the Apocalypse According to Nikolai Atanassov, his painting brings all humanity together melded in a sea of vibrant Turner-esque [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #6
Out of Isolation #6 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Harry Carmean "After the Bath" Oil on canvas framed, 33.5" x 27.5" In this time of Isolation, to touch — a basic yet potent essential life force — has become fraught with hesitation, anxiety and fear. "Art is a form of contactless consolation when the most [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #7
Out of Isolation #7 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Chris Blum "Fake News" Mixed Media Diorama Framed in Box - 13.5" x 13.5" x 4.25" Art is work. It doesn't just somehow happen to us. It provides new material, new places, new paradigms with which to think — And the rest is up to us. [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #8
Out of Isolation #8 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Patrick Duegaw "The Builder Removed" Acrylic, ink, screws, and polyurethane on sheetrock with aluminum frame, 23.5" x 16", 2008 Patrick Duegaw's 2008 self portrait "The Builder Removed," is oddly prophetic, revealing just how ahead of his time he really was, and really is (mask and goggles [...]
