Vincent Desiderio Exhibition
Marlborough Chelsea
This event has ended.
Vincent Desiderio’s new work revels in the uninhibited toughness of paint. He exploits this toughness to underscore the absolute presence of the work in all its unapologetic materiality. As such this work demonstrates the unique capacity of painting to anchor the viewer in a tangible present tense of viewing, while inducing a trance of speculation regarding, among other things, the nature of illusion.
We discover again and again with each canvas, Desiderio’s uncanny sense of the power of art and, in particular, painting, to traverse the perilous isthmus that joins life with consciousness of being. One thought-provoking, hard-hitting, psychologically complex, and beautifully realized image after another comprises this new body of work. His is not a straightforward realistic approach to representation and his subjects are not classically beautiful in appearance, some in fact are startlingly bizarre.
Spiegel im Spiegel (2010), for example, is grand in scale and strikingly frightening and nightmarish. Lush and richly layered with virtuoso brush work, Desiderio holds the viewer’s eye to feast and focus on the quality of painting and the subject matter equally, even though the subject makes for uncomfortable viewing. This complex composition draws us into an epic journey in which worlds within worlds unfold in an experience both intense and mysterious in feeling.
Media
Schedule
from September 15, 2011 to October 15, 2011
Opening Reception on 2011-09-15 from 18:00 to 20:00