John Beech & Louis Cameron @ G Fine Art

In my opinion, there might not be a single room in a D.C. gallery more fulfilling than the project space at G Fine Art. Time after time I find myself more enthralled with the work in that space than in G's main space or any other gallery for that matter. It's consistently strong and always pleases.

Once again this holds true with John Beech's fantastic, if small, show. As usual, let's pull some text about the show:

Beech is fascinated with the neglected, utilitarian objects that occupy our shared spaces. His art is diametric, exploring presence and absence, volume and flatness, use and uselessness, the focus and the ignored.

His Dumpster Drawings begin with black and white photographs of dumpsters. Inspired by the often excessive and inattentive painting of these objects in reality, his paint drips and coats the photos, obscuring the subject. The dumpster remains barely recognizable, flattened into an art form. Although the image of a dumpster doesn't necessarily hold importance in our minds, we are still able to recognize the form because of its permeating existence in our urban landscape.

Beech calls himself an "everyday reductionist" and says that he is interested in "fusing the visual vocabulary of utility and abstract art." Harnessing these hulk-like structures, removing their mass and utility he transforms an urban beast into a wholly novel and unexpected beauty.

All of the above is true. But for me, the magic in Beech's art is where the paint meets the photographic paper. A chemical reaction occurs that produces a discoloration around the paint. It provides a wonderful accent to the painted blob form. It gives the paint a presence and elevates the mundane dumpster hidden behind the paint into something otherworldly. Frequently, the discoloration (which I assume the artist has no real control of) works perfectly with the color scheme of the overall piece. Take a look:

This last piece was my favorite out of the bunch. Conveniently enough, it hangs in Annie Gawlak's office (Annie is the owner/director of G Fine Art). If you go, be sure to take a look in the office as well!

The main space of the gallery is occupied by Louis Cameron's "Severe, High, Elevated, Guarded, Low." Here's some text:

It has been five years since the attacks of 9/11. These attacks have deeply affected the residents of Washington D.C., New York and the rest of the nation, shattering our sense of security. This has catalyzed the United States to take actions that have resonated throughout the world. This project, composed of a suite of abstract (history) paintings and one video marks specific events and the tone towards America from within and without since 9/11.

Louis Cameron's past work dealt with color and how it is codified within consumer culture. Now he broadens his exploration of color into the socio-political sphere. Four of the six paintings are based on military ribbons, the small horizontal striped panels that are worn on service persons' uniforms. They embody the US response to 9/11 such as the Afghanistan Campaign, Iraq Campaign, and the Global War on Terrorism. The "We the People SAY NO to the Bush Agenda" protest banner designed by Artists Against the War in New York is the source for the painting that represents the national protest against the war in Iraq. The final painting is based on the Homeland Security Advisory System chart. The video is an animation of pictures culled from the internet of the American flag. The disparate image sequence presents the American flag in moments of glory, mourning and protest.

Here are some images:

The key sentence above is "It has been five years since the attacks of 9/11." That's a damning sentence in my opinion. It HAS been five years since those attacks and ever since we've seen military this and that on the news. Every piece in this show was created in 2006 which leads me to ask, where have you been Mr. Cameron? I can't count the number of pieces I've seen that has riffed on the terror alert chart... I've seen them for at least 3-4 years now. What does this show add to the dialogue? The press release makes the connection to war seem like the work's key contribution to Art. But can that be the case really? Now? I appreciate leveraging things around us to produce abstract paintings. But sometimes it's best not to reveal those sources. Had this show been in September 2002 versus 2006, we might have an interesting commentary. As it is, it just seems stale and dated.

Click here to see some other images from the show.

Comments

[Lenny Campello]

Interesting - those Louis Cameron paintings depicting military ribbons are EXACTLY the same idea as the ones that I did back in 1997 or 1998 - in both size and scope and imagery - that were picked by Terrie Sultan and exhibited at the McLean Center for the Arts in "Strictly Painting" - I wonder if he came up with concept on his own or derived from that exhibit...