SRGE SIPS vol.1— Parameters
images courtesy of DC Moore Gallery
(unidentified photographer, thank u for ur service)
OK sippers, here’s how this is gonna go. I will give you my notes from the cold viewing of the show— that means no speaking with the artist, nor with the curator, and no reading the press release. Just my raw reaction. There are six criteria: raw rating of the overall show, the work as an entity, the installation, booze?, the demographic/were there sexies?, and time i spent in the gallery. Then, I will come back to my precious little apartment, read the press release, and my new impressions of the show will live in the second paragraph.
raw rating: 5/10
the work as an entity: solid, fun on the eyes, surprising depth
installation— makes sense, flows, nothing fascinating
booze?— yes, wine and water
demographic: white haired white people (sexy, if that’s your type)
time spent: 8 minutes
Little chalk lines on the bare linen mark the space between the confident, black, sun language esque strokes. These thin lines, to me, became the crux of the work. A negation of negative space; an illumination of the practice it takes to reach a stroke so sturdy. Yes, it adds visual value (in the way shadows do on a still life). I found myself wondering if those in-betweeners were born from ropes or vinyl. A lighthearted feel; reminiscent of Chutes and Ladders. High texture (okay, more like subdued medium texture) but the high part is in the meat of each thick, curvy, BBL line. Each seemingly smooth line is packed with tiny impressions of some animal hair brush mixing with turpentines ( i do not know what im talking about). But anyways, yeah the work is good, I enjoyed it more than I expected to, i loved the raw, naturally gray toned linen and the human touch that all the adjacent mini-strokes offered.
Chapter 2: the informed (post-press release) version— okay i definitely did not mention that miss Jaudon’s show is explicitly black and white oil on raw linen, but i guess that felt too “of course” in the moment for me to physically write down, but it is important for you to know, my deer. (shoutout Dana DeGuilio for no reason other than she is awesome and important to my brain and the way it synthesizes paintings— as a painting hater, myself.) After reading what the press release notes as, “diverse references such as musical scores, cartography, Islamic and Romanesque architecture, and mathematical fractals,” I was reminded that while viewing the show, I was reminded of the Lukasa memory board maps the Luba people of The Congo invented. These maps are 19th-20th century wood boards with beads arranged in such an order that aids expert storytellers in their passing of oral histories. The memory boards, when in the correct hands, stop being an object, and become a signifier of the Luba history, and are even used as maps of the sea. The exacting linework just screamed cartography.
OOOH!! teaaa okay i love love love a work that is birthed directly from a previous work, and no i dont mean a piece that references the research you did for another piece, nor do I mean a piece that vaguely fits in with your “overarching theme.” What i mean is exactly this (i like this press release and whoever wrote it): “The linear composition of Aria becomes the template for the planar forms of Consort (both 2022), with convex and comma-like shapes created by altering the relationships of positive and negative space.” mmmmm now how delicious was that. aren’t you glad im here to feed you the goods? (i am giving you pictures, there are more silly words after them)
I certainly disagree that the work has “a feeling of spontaneity”— to me, this entire show feels meticulously prim, trimmed, manscaped, and brazillian waxed. It is crisp, labored, and not one stroke even whispered to me that it was here for a good time. It seems to me that the creation this body of work was not one of exploration, of letting the work, or the medium lead. Rather, it feels more like a demand from the artist, a shout at the oil paint
“I AM YOUR LEADER, COMPORT YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY”
and all the little morsels of pigment trapped in linseed or whatevertf oil lock into place like a terrified army.
ngl, the last paragraph of that press release is absolute word salad and i refuse to do more than skim it so i will leave you with this:
after reading Valerie Jaudon’s bio, I too am a part of the terrified army. if she gave me an order, id nod my head n say yes maam. she’s a big dog. i feel like i should’ve known about her beforehand but se la vie (you will get no real french from me).
ok new ratings time:::::::::::::::
overall show: 6/10
press release writing: 8/10 (writer, you boosted the show a point, succes!)
should you see this show? sure, but not if its raining. more like if youre in the area, you’d enjoy.
i am tired of writing, it is 4:04 am and my laptop is on 9%
love2u byeeeeeeeeee
drink some water <3