Ernest Concepcion "Ode to Odin"
NY Studio Gallery
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NY Studio Gallery presents Ode to Odin works by Ernest Concepcion. Concepcion takes the leap from rendering pastoral, warring landscapes, and the meticulous caricatures of high-density sci-fi populations, to the vast and virulent mushroom clouds of atomic warfare. In 1945, New York Times reporter William L. Laurence described the experience of looking at the atomic bomb thus: "Being close to it and watching it as it was being fashioned into a living thing, so exquisitely shaped that any sculptor would be proud to have created it, one . . . felt oneself in the presence of the supranatural." By moving his painting process from canvas onto aluminum, Concepcion presents layers of acrylic colors that burst forth in an attempt to absorb.
In Ode to Odin (2006) Concepcion captures the primary symbols of war: sex, greed and strife. He begins by depicting colorful idyllic landscapes, using either acrylic or oil paint then after a period of one to three months, the artist aggressively tags each surface with Sharpie pens. Miniscule figures fight against outer-space hybrids, trapped in a series of never-ending, horrific battles. He breaks away from the imposed linearity of modern comics and instead overlaps different scenes in order to suggest that his caricatures share the same space as the viewer. Concepcion continues to move along the edge, between peace and conflict, suggesting that our own expectations are even far more abstract.
While painting turns into graffiti, the artist’s use of landscape as an overall context serves as a framework for his long-running inner narrative, which is populated with science-fiction beasts and war that interested him since childhood.
Media
Schedule
from June 04, 2009 to June 27, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-06-12 from 19:00 to 21:00