~PHIL COTE . . ‘ABSOLUTE REALITY’
PHIL COTE . . ‘ALMOST EVERYTHING’
up thru . . FEB 13, 2021
HESSE FLATOW
more painterly, than it seems on first impression,
yes . . a Bic lighter can be indeed / a profound meditation.
detail,
PHIL COTE, ‘ Absolute Reality’, 2019.
oil on canvas / 32 x 32 in.
image via Instagram @paintco
Phil . . writes of this painting on his IG page:
“I like thinking about the moment at a concert when everyone puts their lighters (or nowadays phones)
in the air, in a collective expression of euphoric appreciation.”
I was thinking in no order: plastic vs glass / expressionism vs realism / flame vs spark / euphoria crowd vs vandalism riot /
change vs entropy & finally, when I first came to stay in NYC, seeing Gerhard Richter candle paintings in the early 80s, and thinking: this guy is going to be very famous.