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Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Joseph Olisaemeka at Derek Eller Gallery


(link)

An interesting tactic: painting the farm "despite having little to no knowledge of farming ecosystems."  Painting what you don't know, you can only paint the preconceived cultural idea, your own expectations. This sounds like a criticism but it's the opposite: this is plein air myth. There's a depth. Like von Wulffen, history roils up from behind. Like, history bruises the present moment. The big looming past. A past in the shadows. Haunts. Not present in the main narrative. The foreground is today bright and hard to see past. Built into the effect of how we paint today. An interest in the depth of the inkblot.

See too: Amelie von Wulffen,  forgetful surrealism