Artists "Review" Artists: Joanna Knox on John M. Adams

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of John M. Adams' work, Obscured Vantage, written by Joanna Knox.  John provided the second jpeg, an image of Above, as well as a brief response to Joanna's "review."

John currently resides in Reston, VA, and Joanna lives in Burtonsville, MD.

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

 
Obscured Vantage
oil and acrylic on birch
48" x 37"
2007

The "Review"

Blue. Drip.  Eyes glaze over then jump back into focus.  I am in a car driving.  I stop abruptly.  The rain is pounding on the windshield of my car.  Fear sets in.  I follow the drops with my eyes as they travel down the glass.  I want to touch the glass and feel the wet on my fingers.  Someone keeps blaring his horn.  I want to touch the sound and squeeze it quiet.

These are the thoughts that first run through my head when I look at this painting.  This is not a painting to be understood, rather one to be experienced.  Usually when I confront a painting that does not really represent some “thing,” I walk away quickly thinking, “what the heck were they thinking?”  Obscured Vantage had the opposite affect on me. It immediately made me think of a recent moment or emotion that I experienced while driving through a violent thunderstorm in an unfamiliar town.  It has fear, confusion, movement, a sense of drowning, and a prick of adrenaline mingled into one really unified painting.  This painting engages my senses.  It makes me want to linger.

By Joanna Knox

 
Above
oil and acrylic on birch
20" x 17"
2008

The Response

Thank you for the engaging review.  I am also pleased with your reaction to the painting, which seems to be from the gut, mind, and memory.  I do not like to tell my viewer what the painting “is” but let them discover it for themselves.  The connection between perception and memory has been interesting me over the course of the last year and I hope that many of the newer pieces provide a strong reaction from the viewer.
 
Feel free to linger as long as you want.

By John M. Adams

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
Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard
Daniel Mafe on Pam Farrell
Jenn Figg on Bob Barbera