Sunday, May 8, 2011

Russell Shoemaker- "It's Not Everything"

Russell Shoemaker "Beach" oil and spray paint on canvas

I recently attended an opening at Philadelphia's Slingluff Gallery hosting the works of Russell Shoemaker. Russell's show, entitled "It's Not Everything" successfully fused abstract and figurative oil painting in a way that made as much sense as abstract painting can. Russell spoke of his approach to painting an application of layers upon layers of oil until the desired image is achieved, or until he gets bored. There are points in his work where the flesh appears to be spread on the canvas with a butter knife, helping to compose sections where the figure's skin and clothing wants to fall right off. It could be described as a schizophrenic flashback from Robocop, but what I want to know is where do these girls get their bikinis?

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