1. The Final Act Becomes The Meaning / Parts I & II (G0406), 2008. Modified acrylic polymer emulsion, PBlk9, alkyd resin, casein resin, oil stick, gesso, graphite, charcoal, time, dust, screws, brackets, tape, mounted canvas and wood stretchers. Overall dimensions variable: Installation approximately 31 x 26 x 4.5 in. (79 x 66 x 11.5 cm.); Part I approximately 30 x 11 x 4.5 in. (76 x 28 x 11.4 cm.);
Part II approximately 30 x 16 x 4.5 in. (76 x 41 x 11.4 cm.) © Gabriel J. Shuldiner
2. Do Not Insult My Intelligence / Parts I & II (G0398), 2008. Modified acrylic polymer emulsion, PBlk9, alkyd resin, enamel house paint, oil stick, gesso, graphite, charcoal, dust, screws, tape, cardboard, mounted ripped canvas and wood stretchers. Overall dimensions variable: Installation approximately 64 x 24 x 3.5 in. (163 x 61 x 9 cm.); Part I approximately 30 x 24 x 3.5 in. (76 x 61 x 9 cm.); Part II approximately 30 x 11 x 3.5 in. (76 x 28 x 9 cm.) © Gabriel J. Shuldiner.
3. Maybe Everything Starts All Over - Thing One & Thing Two (G0409), 2008. Modified acrylic polymer emulsion, PBlk9, Japanese sumi ink, oil stick, gesso, enamel house paint, charcoal, graphite, casein resin, plaster, dust, brackets, screws, gessoboard and wood. Overall dimensions variable: Installation approximately 13.5 x 33.2 x 10.2 (34 x 84 x 30 cm.); Thing One approximately
13.3 x 13.3 x 6.2 in. (34 x 34 x 16 cm.); Thing Two approximately 13.1 x 13.5 x 10.2 in. (33 x 34 x 30 cm.) © Gabriel J. Shuldiner
Simply put, my work is a [re]investigation of both material and process, highly intuitive yet mathematically considered. I construct, deconstruct and then reconstruct a composition in a manner that is both violent struggle and playful dance, until the seemingly arbitrary vanishes, and the materials fall into positions that appear destined. I work within a deliberate structure/parameter and experiment with many different materials, exploring the infinite possibilities I find there. I highlight the subtle nuance of surface, support, space, form, density and mass, examining the role that context and perception play in visual experience: I believe the more limited the means, the stronger the expression.
I see beauty in the oft overlooked: in things not necessarily intended as art. The raw side of a decayed brick building, the old street sign, wall or door. Deterioration. Destruction. Time. Eternal. Serenity. Calm. Through my physical application of matter, I explore a multitude of culturally relevant/timeless themes, among them nothingness, isolation/solitude, the transitory nature of things, and the absurd. A sort of post-postmodern, post-punk, post-rave, post-medium existential Zen meditation, at times deceptively self-effacing, cynical and nihilistic. A direct experience that remains beyond thought, speech and words: a paradox.
Industrial and experimental in nature, I impart a [vital] sense of philosophic irony and dark humor as I probe the surreal and disparate depths of the human psyche and human condition. A personal/universal exploration of the self that, once uncovered, reveals a powerful beauty, fervent balance and harmony. Coldness, pressure, darkness, crisis, failure, [loss of] control, collapse, and excess are some of the recurring themes I am drawn to: that eternal conflict and tension between man and himself, observer and observed, subject and object, true and false, good and evil... These ideas, however, grow out of/mirror/respond to the larger contemporary culture(s) in which we live. Bigger, harder, better, faster, stronger, [more] production and [even more] waste. I want to suspend the viewer in a momentary reprieve: a personal, contemplative dialogue. To look beyond the current, immediate and obvious, and while doing so, perhaps see one’s own [true] reflection.
Influenced further by an idiosyncratic aesthetic taste in music, literature and fashion, I push, bend, merge and advance the rigid and formal boundaries of minimalism, abstraction, and the conceptual, with elements of graffiti, dynamic urban structure and architectural design: where quantum theory becomes spiritual and meanings and classifications dissolve. If this time, “painting” is really and truly dead, then I am producing its willful zombies.
- Gabriel J. Shuldiner - Spring 2008
|
|
|
Web Links
|
|
