“Wasted space is any space that has art in it.” Andy Warhol from THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)
This exhibition, which includes six large-scale paintings, one sculpture, a series of drawings and an edition of prints, explored the value of invisibility over knowledge, belief over visibility. The six “invisible” paintings (painted with a phosphorescent white medium) in the gallery required from the viewer a certain amount of trust that the art does in fact exist; it is truly there and its existence is pure because the images themselves do not have to compete with the space in which they are exhibited. The iconographic subject matter of the paintings and drawings hold a similar power to faith or memory. What does God look like? What did pre-Ziggy Stardust Bowie look like? Doesn’t really matter when the lack of experiential evidence makes our faith that much stronger and richer, our memories that much greater and sexier. In the case of this show, the evidence lies on paper; the prints document a staged momentary change of light (revealing the phosphorescent medium) that created the reverse of the show, PROOF. Of course, these prints could have been faked. Who was there to witness the appearance of the paintings? Another question—is the artwork good? becomes a dead end road to go down and could perhaps be replaced with—is the artwork absent or present, and who says?