Jerry Madson “The Joining”
Caelum Gallery
This event has ended.
The pull of nature on artist’s imagination is as strong today as it was in earlier times, but the question of how to give expression to it in the post-modern era is vexing. Madson found a solution to the problem in the unlikely area of calligraphy, the kind in old manuscripts. Taking a cue from Jasper Johns, the artist found in calligraphy something that is flat and yet pregnant with meaning. By introducing calligraphic letters into his compositions the other descriptive elements take on calligraphic characteristics. In the current series, ‘The Joining” the key motif is the monarch butterfly, and the “J’s” that populate the pictures induce the images of the butterflies to look calligraphic. In this way, symbols become descriptive and renderings become symbolic.
The monarch butterfly is a bittersweet motif in that, while it is noble and strikingly bold, it is in trouble as a species. Milkweed, that it relies on, is in decline and its summer forest in Mexico is shrinking. Although Madson’s pictures are not overtly ecological, the ‘joining’ of the show’s title refers to the interconnectedness of human conduct and the natural world. However, Madson’s world is uniformly upbeat and bucolic, but underlying it is the tension between manmade things, be they letters or barns, and nature.
The artist works in three distinct yet related modes: paintings, graphic works that are black and white or in color, and ink drawings on cut cardboard. The latter two illuminate the artist’s strong interest in design and the reduction of its elements to a minimum.
Media
Schedule
from September 09, 2014 to September 20, 2014
Opening Reception on 2014-09-11 from 18:00 to 20:00