An Ode to Philip Guston
June 3, 2015 – June 28, 2015
Opening Reception Wednesday, June 3rd, 7-9pm
Artists: Paul Brainard, Dawn Frasch, Aaron Johnson, Laura Moriarty, Doug Parry, Leonard Reibstein, and Tom Sanford.
Underlying his iconic imagery and heightened sense of primordial time, beyond the movements between figuration and abstraction, there is a general optimism in the post-50’s work of Philip Guston. Behind each oddly described object there is a desire to like the world and discover little pleasures in the unfamiliar and sometimes darker recesses of reality. Guston’s post-50’s studio was a menagerie of masterful deconstruction and then obliteration of formal painterly concerns. It was through this transformation that he learned to navigate the difficult science of color and began to experiment with non-hierarchical configurations of order.
As an artist who was made famous for work that was stubbornly eccentric to the contemporary enthusiasms of his day, his style and unique voice have proven to carry some serious lasting power. But it was over forty years ago that Guston’s work transformed the world of painting. If legacy is built on the influence of future generations what sort of influence has Guston’s work had on the imagination of today’s studio artist? What has Philip Guston done for you lately? To answer this question The Lodge Gallery presents “Heathen Fundamentalist” on view from June 3rd through June 28th.
The Lodge Gallery, founded by Keith Schweitzer and Jason Patrick Voegele, is located at 131 Chrystie Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.