Artists "Review" Artists: Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of Brent Hallard's work, one-cut_3 Blue  'envelope series', written by Michael Paul Oman-Reagan.  Brent provided the second jpeg, an image of Bridge, TEMPLATE #071027, as well as a brief response to Michael's "review."

Brent currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, and Michael lives in Brooklyn, NY.

If you would like to participate in this project, please email me at jtkirkland [at] gmail [dot] com.

one-cut_3 Blue  'envelope series'
acrylic and marker on cut paper
8 1/2" x 11 3/4"
2008

The "Review"

"one-cut_3 Blue" immediately engaged my attention. My first reaction was "what is this?" because it is both familiar and challenging.  When my response to an artwork is "oh, that's a painting/sculpture/collage/drawing" I am already done with the work.  Instead, this object proposes an investigation – but does not give up its identity.  I remain very curious after the initial introduction.  Is it a drawing?  Yes, but it is three-dimensional, so it's also sculpture.  And the paper has been painted, and so it is painting.  But it's not on canvas or panel or in a frame – it has been attached directly to the wall.  Or has it?  These fluid identities make the work captivating and help to build an utterly fascinating launching point for discovering more about it and its maker.

The boundary areas of the work allow it to hover between scales. The illuminated blue field and the delicate shadows cast by the edges cause it to glow and float against the wall. The straight, ruled, black lines overlay a specific, stark geometry that is contained, systematic and architectonic.  Although it is only slightly larger than a sheet of notebook paper, it defies the implied scale of that familiar size - instead appearing as an open and vast place - with gentle delineations.

The object seems to have been pasted to the wall, like a note or an instruction or perhaps a calendar for remembering vastness.  This direct contact with the wall creates an intimate exchange with the installation environment.  The wall space usually relegated to 'background' is drawn into the scope of the work.  This is almost less than architecture, drafting and painting and yet the color, line and form are more vibrant specifically because of their subtlety.  It is richly reductive, reminding me to remember where I am standing, and to actively see what is in front of me.

If this work had relatives, they could be Richard Tuttle's Paper Octagonal series and Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park landscapes.  Or Agnes Martin's drawings and D.E. May's Template works.

In an earlier Artists "Review" Artists essay, Pam Farrell described how the anonymity of this project leaves us "wanting to know the unknown." "one-cut_3 Blue" captures that unknown, teaches us how to look into that place and see the invisible – and leaves us anticipating the revelation.

By Michael Paul Oman-Reagan

 
Bridge, TEMPLATE #071027
painted tape on wall
66.142' x 85.039"
2007
Installation view, The Space Between, SJICA, San Jose, 2008

The Response

Michael Paul Oman-Reagan has certainly engaged this small work – I’m quite shocked how well.
He has succinctly outlined and ordered ideas such as the indefinite thing, fluidity, shifting scale, and the ‘tectonic’ to name a few. And if that is all too much, he has added near the close of the review, the way in, the body / time / focus, ‘reminding me to remember where I am standing, and to actively see what is in front of me’.
Thank you.

By Brent Hallard

Previous "Reviews":
Pam Farrell on Ken Weathersby
Paula McCullough on Aric Calfee
Lee Gainer on Leigh Waldron-Taylor
Aric Calfee on Paula McCullough
Matthew Ballou on Heather Levy
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech on TJ Norris
TJ Norris on Giovanni Garcia-Fenech
Susan Tolbert on Mary Klein
Heather Levy on Gail Vollrath
Sharon Butler on Matthew Ballou
Mark L. Power on Steven Alexander
Steven Alexander on Mark L. Power
Molly Norris on M. Trigos
Ken Weathersby on Joseph Barbaccia
Sondra Arkin on Susan Tolbert
John M. Adams on Sharon Butler

Comments

[Ken Weathersby]

Micheal-- beautifully done. I like Brent's submitted piece, and your review really pointed to the most fruitful areas for consideration, it seems to me.

[MOR]

Thanks Ken - It was fun to participate. Thanks to J.T. for putting this together - what a good idea!