Like:
“Alright to Drive” (2017), Henry Swanson
Anna Zorina Gallery
Henry Swanson is one of my favorite artist right now. His manipulation of and experimentation with advertisements and consumer iconography is both comical and dark. In this image, Swanson simply spray paints “Happy B-Day Son” onto a Busch Light NASCAR jacket. While both Swanson and Bernhardt (below) depict popular logos and advertisement imagery, I found Swanson’s medium and display to be more creative and thought provoking. I also loved this work because it is the first three dimensional piece I’ve seen by the artist; he usually sticks to two dimension paintings and collage. The jacket in conversation with the text and the title leads to seemingly endless interpretations of this piece. It also falls into many mediums such as installation, collage, fashion and even vandalism.
Dislike:
“Day/Night” (2017), Katherine Bernhardt
CANADA Gallery
It’s always a difficult task for me to try and find an artwork I don’t like, I never have enough of a legitimate reason not to like it. I actually love Katherine Bernhardt’s work, but when compared with Swanson’s work, I find it less provoking and artistically interesting. I do love that Bernhardt’s piece is playful and childlike – it’s almost impossible to find artwork that even slightly resembles the magic a child can create – but I think it lacks the ambiguity that Swanson’s piece holds. It is overwhelming in the sense that its so cluttered with imagery of popular culture, and given its dimensions (120 x 194 inches) it can come off as a bit aggressive to the viewer. It’s hard for me to negatively critique works when I don’t know the artist’s intentions with the piece. Maybe Berhardt’s intention was to evoke a sense of confusion and claustrophobia within the work.
