My oldest son and I hit Hallwalls this weekend. As we made our way into the repurposed church structure and found a cozy well lit gallery space we were faced with the work of Buffalo artist Rodney Taylor. The portable walls most of his work is displayed on creates a U-shaped space that embraces visitors as they walk into the exhibition. The atmosphere on this side of the room felt “safe” which allowed us to succumb to the pieces that were beckoning us to take a closer look, and, we did. My first draw was Taylor’s use of color and texture. There is something about the unique ‘hand” a person leaves behind when they are intimately involved in a project. It serves, more often than not, as an invisible signature, a fingerprint of its creator. The piece, thus, becomes proof that a living, breathing human being gave life to it. This “life” is evidenced in the selection on display. In addition, as pointed out by my son, Taylor laces his work with a bit of mystery by incorporating faint gestures of the human form around the naked tree he uses as the central figure. Color, texture, nakedness, mystery, life. What exactly is he trying to tell us? Collectively, these elements come together and evoke an overall feeling of impermanence and I can’t help but sense that Taylor is, by way of his tree, urging us to take this closer look before it all fades away.
Around the corner and behind the Taylor display is the work of artist Andrew Reyes. Reyes collection is quite different than Taylor’s. To point out the “obvious” Taylors’ work is pai
nted while Reyes’ is either photographed or sculpted using everyday objects. Regardless of the medium, Reyes pieces didn’t resonate with me at all. I wasn’t moved by anything I encountered on that end of the exhibition. I asked myself why? Was it his command of the camera or the superimposition of images? No, the images are crisp and deliberate. Was it the content of the photographs themselves? No, there’s a dog, a flower, a car, and so on, and so on. So, what exactly is it that I just didn’t get? I think it was the seeming disconnection of the images themselves. I was looking for the story of the common thread and I wasn’t getting it. I wanted obvious relationship and there appeared to be none. In fact, the images appeared to be as disconnected as they could get because their connection was so blatantly obvious I couldn’t see it. Unfortunately, when I did see it (the obviousness of the everyday)…I still wasn’t moved. Reyes attempt to convey a visual interpretation of such an abstract subject left me wanting. I can appreciate the existence of the ordinary as it makes the extraordinary possible, however, I found myself drowning in a sea of indifference.
No comments:
Post a Comment