Dory at Madrocks

 

Dory at Madrocks, oil on canvas, 38" x 41", Steven Rhude  www.secordgallery.com

"Being able to hold the thread of a painting tightly is the mark of a good artist. Such textural elements must be stretched tight if the friction of the elements is to be effective. Lesser artists may attempt to work with these ideas of texture, but something usually gives, the line falls slack, the suspension sags and the works don't have that captured energy that we see here.

For Rhude, there's tension in the almost surreal contrast of his subjects which are often placed in paradoxical situations.You can feel the slight rub of confusion - why is the buoy on the overturned boat? How can the shed be in the surf? In that moment of disjointed comprehension, behind the smooth, enjoyable surface of the painting, Rhude's texture opens up a culture of inquiry - the political meaning of an unemployed fisherman for example - a visual expression of our society's pressing questions. Rhude makes his ideas into texture." 

- Leopold Kowolik, from the catalogue Making Things Matter, Gallery 78

Return to Happenstance Cove, oil on canvas, 38" x 41", www.secordgallery.com


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