Benny Andrews and William Villalongo "Liberty & The Land"
Cuchifritos
This event has ended.
We normally think about collage as a physical process in which layers of paper are fixed with adhesive to create a composite image. This exhibition proposes that collage is not only tactile and material, but a more nuanced phenomena. Collage is a medium that explores strategies of juxtaposition. Temporal variables, such as history and personal experience can be fixed, if only figuratively, within its accumulated layers.
Born generations apart, Benny Andrews (1930-2006) and William Villalongo (born 1975, raised in Bridgeton, NJ) share a deep engagement with the process of collage. Both artists are also notably inventive for the ways they push the two-dimensional limits of painting. Their laminations of paint, paper, Mylar and fabric tell us visual stories, and manage to capture time, narrative and social commentary in layered surfaces.
For Liberty & The Land, Villalongo has created a monumentally-scaled painted panel in the form of George Washington’s silhouette. Painted-in, a bevy of nymphs frolic in a pastoral scene, and a surprising spectral appearance floats in the sky. For all of his delving into art historical references, from Renaissance painting to the Pre-Raphaelites, Villalongo’s works are decidedly forward-thinking. To quote the artist: “my goal is to orchestrate a conversation between history and art which could give us the progressive discussions of the future.”
Curated by Dean Daderko.
[Image: William Villalongo, American Gothic: Grant Wood and Gordon Parks, 2008, Ink jet prints, velour flocking, Mylar and acrylic. Courtesy the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, New York.]
Media
Schedule
from October 17, 2009 to November 28, 2009