Solid Transparency

This brief review is the first of a three-part series in which Arthur Whitman will write about his recent visits to a few of Cornell’s BFA Thesis Exhibitions. Here, Whitman comments on the work of two Cornell seniors, Nate Shedd and Patrick Shea. The series will continue next week with a writeup up on Eonjin Chin and Andrew Schwartz’s exhibition at Olive Tjaden and will conclude with  comments on Alexandra O’Neill, Aubrey Hetznecker & Emily Bloom’s show at Hartell Gallery.

By Arthur Whitman

STEPPING INTO CORNELL’S Olive Tjaden Gallery, the distinction between the two presentations and artistic styles of the artists is striking. On the hallway-side wall is a dense and irregular line of small, roughly painted canvases that feature subjects seemingly pulled at random from a general reference source like an encyclopedia. On the gallery’s other three walls are three large canvases and two small etchings. Here the sparseness of content corresponds with what feels like an incomplete display: traffic lights and other constructions are silhouetted against empty expanses.

Cornell senior Nate Shedd chooses his subjects from natural history and popular culture alike: a dinosaur, a toy robot, a volcano, animals, machines, science fiction and outer space. His work, presented under the rubric of Awesomism, belongs to the tradition of Pop Art, now half a century old. It’s unclear what he hopes to contribute to it, as Shedd’s paintings teeter dangerously between playful irony and outright cynicism. His technique is basic, and the selection of subjects seem arbitrary.

A few pieces do show promise, however. Color is not a strong point and most of the paintings tend towards the gray and the dulled-out. The gray and blue-gray “Zeppelins” excites some drama out the contrast between visual weight of the (single) aircraft—shaded and seen from an oblique perspective—and the background, smudgy and lacking depth. “Saturn” is also near-monochrome, except for tints of yellow and red. Intersecting rings and haloes play with solidity and transparency. “Nebulae” attempts something gestural and abstract and almost pulls it off.

Patrick Shea’s show, Separate Presence, is more solid. His subject matter is mundane: objects seen from the road, though not necessarily from inside a car. What makes the work interesting is the particular perspectives and bodily experiences his images evoke (think of craning your neck up to see the sky, for example). The three large oil paintings are the centerpieces here. Stylistically they display a cool and sober realism: crisp outlines, areas of flatly applied color, subtle shading. Backgrounds are an almost uniform bluish off-white, neutral and distant. “Traffic Signals” dangle precariously from tangled dark-gray cables, together with the back of a printed sign whose perspective cuts towards the viewer. Hazy stop-red circles are a rare burst of strong color. Hooks hang from an unseen “Crane.” A pale blue “Water Tower” seems dead and inert—typical of a contemporary brand of realism, which Shea flirts with but usually transcends.

My favorite pieces in the gallery were Shea’s two small black and white etchings: “Telephone Pole” and “Traffic Signals.” They eschew the photorealistic approach of his paintings and extend their latent abstraction in an interesting way. Here, crisp line-work contains edgy, gestural life-like forms. The former print, in particular, refuses to claim an unambiguous perspective. One wishes to see more such work; the gallery could certainly contain it.

Cornell’s Department of Art will hold a closing reception at the gallery with the two artists this Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Tagged as: Arthur Whitman, BFA, cornell, MFA, Nate Shedd, Olive Tjaden Gallery, Patrick Shea