 |
Email PageThe Attacker's Move
May 13, 2006- June 10, 2006
Reception: May 13, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Jonathan Weiner
Jonathan LeVine Gallery
529 W 20th St Jonathan Weiner Downfall |
Metaphor of Survival Emanates From Collection of Intriguing New Works
In artist Jonathan Weiner’s foreboding imagery, characters share something in common: they are each struggling to survive. As voyeurs of this narrative world, we are unaware of the origin of this threat, yet we sense it’s presence and empathize with characters that fear the uncontrollable. Through skillful representation, a rich, iridescent palette, and subtle metaphor, Weiner shares a world of human struggle, stripped of pretense.
Essential to Weiner’s subject matter is an element of opposition: “I think of my paintings as movies, and what’s a movie without conflict or drama? There must be a struggle, or it’s not interesting.” In The Attacker’s Move, the plight is for safety. Using dramatic lighting effects on his subjects, Weiner creates an ethereal space where insecurities and suspicions emerge from seemingly ill-fated circumstances. In Weiner’s work there exist two basic, yet overlapping archetypes: predator and prey, though it is unclear at times which is which. He depicts a twisted food chain, where a swarm of white butterflies looms suspiciously, or a strange bird with a menacing beak lurks in a peculiar domestic environment.
Weiner discovers a tragic and beautiful species amidst the absurd and artificial wilderness of contemporary urban life. Applying irony and humor to his compositions with nuanced symbolism, he captures moments and experiences both fleeting and visceral. In a series of portraits entitled Unarmed Civilians, Weiner seduces the viewer with the gaze of a porcelain-faced woman, or stuns us with the contorted face of a distressed male. “Even a simple portrait needs a story,” explains Weiner, “I like depicting characters with vulnerabilities and defenses. One is hiding beneath his hooded parka, one covers his wounded eye, a woman looks sad or worried . . . I inject an element of anxiety into everything.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST Jonathan Weiner (a.k.a VINER) was born somewhere in New York in June of 1976. He was raised up and down the east coast, and upon graduation from Rhode Island School of Design in 1998, he moved to Brooklyn, NY, where he continues to work. His paintings and illustrations have been published in Juxtapoz Magazine, Communication Arts, American Illustration, Print Magazine, Art Matters, Playboy, and Rolling Stone.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
|
 | |||||||||||||||
|
© 2005-2008 chelseaartgalleries.com | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
| Site Map |
