An Intern’s Perspective on Color War
Having spent this summer interning at Recession Art I have had the opportunity to participate in installing a few shows over the past months. Although the previous shows have featured some particularly great work, Color War is the one that has stood out to me from the rest. It is due in part to the vibrancy and the cohesion of palette of the work, as well as the more playful tone that many of the works exhibit.
Of all the work in the exhibition my personal favorites have to be the two paintings by Lindsey Warren. It is not that the work is more serious in tone compared to the others, but that it feels like these painting capture a more subtle moment in time. While many of the other pieces focus on surreal imagery and ideas, Warren’s work exhibits a photographic realism that grounds the work in a more familiar context. She paints palm trees in the midday sun and the shadows of people conversing, cast against a wall at dusk. The graphic nature of the work evokes pop art and to a degree even paint by number paintings in the way the colors are so meticulously delineated.
Work like this that naturally lends itself to acrylic painting. In acrylic it is relatively easy to keep colors from blending due to how quickly the paint dries. This allows for one to achieve a graphic look much more easily than with oil pant. Yet, to my surprise these paintings are both done in oil. It would have been a much easier task for Warren to paint these in acrylic, but it makes the work all the better and more impressive that they are not. They lack the plastic synthetic look of acrylic and instead have a beautiful velvety texture. I cannot imagine the amount of effort and time she must have put into these paintings, waiting for each color to dry before moving on to the next. The colors them selves appear to radiate outwards from the center of the paintings because of the unified palette Warren employs.
Warren’s work is to me the highlight of the show and Color War as a whole is a definite must see. All the work is very strong and supports each other and the premises of the exhibition. Color War is only on for another week so make sure to come to Recession Art and see it before August 9th! Check out these photos from the show’s opening here, and for more work from Lindsey Warren click here.
– Zachary Marshall