 The Labradored Grammarian, 2005 acrylic and maimeri paint on wood, 18 X 22 in Tim Evans Parts of Nowhere The Proposition Gallery is pleased to present Tim Evans in his first solo exhibition in New York, "Parts of Nowhere". Since graduating from the Hunter College MFA program, Tim Evans has been working as an artist, writer, and independent curator from his studio in Brooklyn. "Parts of Nowhere" consists of new and recent medium-size paintings and drawings. Tim Evans' paintings are playful distortions of the figural tradition, containing disarmingly pornographic nudes patched together from disparate sources including internet porn-sites, Japanese manga and anime, and the artist's own transformative imagination. Done in acrylic and archival maimeri, these paintings collapse representative space and realistic rendering; they are at once familiar and disorienting, contrasting fleshy textures against comic pastel color-fields as nascent narratives struggle against iconographic implosion. The illusory collision of visual elements that drives Tim Evans' paintings are also reflected in his drawings, which include the "Self-Defense Series", dizzying overlays of dislocation combing techniques of collage and the subversion of negative space. "The Self-Defense Series" is comprised of acrylic drawings over generic screentone panels (pre-prepared scenes and patterns used by manga artists to quickly produce a series of drawings), which are in turn layered over monotone digital drawings. Here, free-association is unleashed by the juxtaposition of meticulously rendered illustrations sourced from "The Highway Patrolman's Self-Defense Manual", quotidian landscapes, and pornographic detail, suggesting psychological conflict, homoerotic tension, auto-erotic solipsism, and heterosexual fantasy. Far from heavy-handed moralizing, the seductive ambiguity of these works constitutes a humorous meditation upon human desire wherein sexual posturing is frozen at the precise moment of utmost absurdity. Unabashedly taking manga and anime as a stylistic point of reference, Tim Evans' artworks connect to a tradition of visual storytelling that allow for greater personal and transgressive freedom without directly transcribing that tradition's most superficial characteristics. Instead, the artist strips loaded imagery of meaning, deliberately mistranslating coded contexts into a lyrical point of no return, a part of nowhere. Text by Andrew Maerkle Exhibition: April 16 - May 21, 2005 Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 10 am - 6 pm The Proposition 559 West 22ndStreet USA-New York, NY10011 Telephone +1 212 242 0035 Fax +1 212 242 0203 Email Donahuesosinski@earthlink.net www.theproposition.com |
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