All images used for educational purposes only, the artwork of Victor Rodriguez shot by Jeff Lancaster for Jett Gallery. Image to the left is "NewAbstract (Universal)."
Theatrical, vivid, sensationalist... Rodriguez' work is to be viewed with the crawling eye of a paparazzo. The SWCA having been my first introduction to Victor Rodriguez, it was perhaps serendipitous that I spoke with Kathleen Crain, Assistant Director there. In the middle of raving about the work, I asked if there was an artist’s statement. Not that it is necessary, but I like hearing artists articulate their ideas most especially when I like the art. I said, “I feel like I am projecting into this my own artistic memories and context.” She responded that it is what the artist wanted people to do, to interpret the information in their own way. I considered that a direct invitation.
Walking into the exhibition, I experienced what I thought was a wealth of images. After walking through it several times, I realized that the actual images: figures, reference works from other artists, even the shapes used, were limited to a set of about 25 distinct “things.” They were being altered in tint, saturation, and compositionally they were being reconfigured in various montages and collages. I’ll never know why Rodriguez selected these in particular because their relationship to one another was not apparent to me. But I did have a starting point: connect the dots.
“Abstract Sky” is a black-and-white ink on board that is smaller in scale, and it features a dot pattern that seems to reference cosmology maps from MesoAmerican cultures, a network of geometric angles, lines, and circles that intersect. This was the most literal illustration of “connect the dots” that I’d found, and helped me to feel more empowered to view the exhibition as not completely abstract, but an abstraction of themes that barely thread together, but might operate under esoteric logic. “Abstract Sky,” along with a grouping of monochromatic small works features only one image floating in a blank plane. “Goldfish,” is a single Chinese metal goldfish ornament hanging on a hook. But “Small BlueOrchid1” features a face whose eye is excerpted and dropped, also monochromatically, into “New Abstract#5 (Blue Pill).” The significance of this seems to be that on ocassion, with the less obvious references (people might obviously recognize a blue pill with Pfizer on it, or Disney’s seven dwarfs, or Manet’s “Le Fifre”) Rodriguez is providing some “preparatory material” for our benefit. Once again, the intent is obscure… why has he selected various things for us to learn, while depending on our prepossessed knowledge to make sense of the rest? No annotations, no wall text otherwise.
NewAbstract#5 (Blue Pill), 2010
Also, the recurrence of Manet in various works is mysterious. I recognized at least “Olympia” and several “fifres” throughout. Eduoard Manet was influenced by Japanese prints, his works were largely monochromatic punctuated with vivid but tonally flat color details. Manet is definitely a forefather to the contemporary flat aesthetic, which implants itself into much abstract fine art now. How important is this artistic lineage to Rodriguez?
NewAbstract Olympia, 2010
Though questions linger, that's not a bad thing. The show is indeed excellent. Though the information we are privy to is limited, the resulting pieces are provocative and resonant, in a way that other artists who work purely in abstraction and then provide zero context fail at. Why is this effective when for so many others it isn't? Rodriguez' immense technical skill is probably a main distinguishing trait. In the skill, we see the care and dedication. We see that this means something, even if we can't know fully what it means.
He seems to be claiming membership in the contemporary world, while pointing out the blunt, unromantic things that we paint about today. The greatest strength of photorealistic painting is seeing it in person and appreciating what was done with the acrylic medium. Photoshopped digital work, with its crisp clarity, at times does not evoke much charm. But to see it translated a further step by being painted, seeing the presence of marks that establish an artist’s physical presence and journey across a canvas or board, is a tension between obtuse precision and perfection (so endorsed by today’s photographic media) and evocative, expressive markmaking (more in the tradition of fine painting) that Rodriguez seems to walk comfortably.
Victor Rodriguez [] Scott White Contemporary Art
First, I love the statement " we see that this means something, even if we can't know full what it means"...I think this is why we ritualize many of our preferences or choices...because of what we might think it says about us.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I like Blue Pill because each circle seemed like a thought in someone's head to me. When I first saw it I thought it was a woman's perspective...but the Blue Pill made me reconsider my position to think, how important is that to a woman.
Anyway, yes, I think the skill elevates the work to a level where I can appreciate it. Without much context execution is key...but also like you said the images are well known and that provides context in the sense that we can see what the painter's experience is.