~KENT DORN .. SHARE THE LIGHT
ok. the last word on the KENT DORN show.
KENT DORN . . . ‘SHADOWLAND’
OCT 17 – NOV 16, 2013
FREIGHT+VOLUME – 530 WEST 24tH ST – CHELSEA, NYC
it’s strange to consider, or at least an indication of what’s on the table here . . to see what a dominant, and yet undefined, against-the-grain role .. the painterly orbs of the sun, and/or the moon .. play in these paintings. in a show titled: ‘Shadowland’, these light sources .. go, well .. pale. cold.
alert, warning. biosphere .. break-down.
society .. break-up. culture dead-end. the end of the ‘hippies’, and Woodstock is .. over.
way over.
although there is a ‘glow’ of light around these cosmic light sources, they don’t really heat up, or light up the paintings.
nor the activities within the narrative.
it’s not that the paintings are really that dark, as much as they are .. cause for pause. but there were also some very optimistic notes in the show, namely .. two candlelit paintings. where the glow of the tiny flicker that a candle burns with, a man-made radiance, extends much further than the cosmic-scaled rays of the suns of the larger .. landscape paintings.
something to think .. about.
these paintings are not just about compositional/plastic virtues, or narrative consequences. I’m thinking, with the inclusion of these 2 paintings .. it’s us, the one, the human .. against .. the universe.
bio singularity in a digital world, counts.
the individual contributing .. to the collective unconscious, counts.
with the emphasis being on .. the difference, the impact .. one passionate voice, one tweeting person can make – as our bio world degrades, the cosmos is unraveled, our sun is discovered to have a finite life span, and we are more machine, more ‘half computer’ .. everyday.
and apparently, performance enhancing drugs .. are up next.
TRINEE.
the opening was fun. the paintings were serious, but more in the sense of something .. to really get your mind around.
not ‘burn’ you out.
even Rebecca Goyette’s video, gross as it was .. was ridiculous, theatrical .. in your face .. clueless. you could walk away, and laugh it off.
candle in a glass jar.
KENT DORN, ‘Untitled (Seance)’, 2013.
mixed media on canvas, 45 x 35.
($5,000)
omg, are we really calling up the dead here, crossing over to the other side . . ?
no wonder the show .. spooked me.
it was like bookends. a candle in a glass jar / and a candle in a Chianti bottle. kind of like, jam meets wine ? and a little flame .. ignites ?
both titled: Seance.
somebody else can write on that .. I’m done talking. I’m just laying down the tarot cards, one by one.
KENT DORN, ‘Untitled (Seance)’, 2013
mixed media on canvas, 45 x 35 in.
($5,000)
ok, listen up .. up there.
if the sun don’t shine, and the moon don’t, either.
at least that little candlelight of mine .. can.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH