g is for gregarious

Oil on Canvas, 91 x 91 cm, detail

The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity. —Alberto Giacometti

The Dadaists broke down the bourgeoise silo mentality that insists on formal  logic and meaning in art. Their work was often a rioutous blend of word and image. This movement of politics and passion often took place outside galleries, in ordinary civic spaces.

This oil painting, like the other works in my series “Scripted” (Re:Cursive”), shows the repetition of a letter and the resulting patterns. Original alphabets were pictographs. In that sense, this art series is situated within an ancient tradition. It is not, however, a homage or dead repetition. Rather, it subversively re-animates the ancient codes to enable incisive comments on current cultural dilemmas.

The letter of this art work is ‘g’. Embedded in this painting is the word “gregarious”, evoking the flocking together of people, the large public art gatherings of the Dadaists.

Please find the full artist statement for the series “Scripted” (“Re:Cursive”) in the artwork section, with the painting “a is for arresting.”