2006 - 2007

This group of paintings addresses the formative role of violence in contemporary culture, from a political culture driven by "terror" and deception, to an aesthetics of visual assault.The paintings draw on the tensions of a cultural moment which affords us, primarily through the internet, unprecedented visual access to the violence of war and political strife ( the War in Iraq and the Abu Ghraib scandal are but cases in point) and in which we are constantly being admonished to "say something" if "we see something."

The images are informed by my current interest in the traditions of popularized depictions of violence: from early superhero comics (Fighting Yank/ Captain America/ Battle Brady), to video game imagery (Gears of War/Halo3...), to websites dedicated to graffiti from around the world. These are all powerful popular forms that testify to the workings of violence in our culture, yet do so in often really beautiful and visually inventive ways. The layering of images, paired with the physicality of the paint application in these paintings, speaks to the cacophony of voices and media, the overload of often contradictory information, that typifies the presentation of violence in contemporary culture: glamour, jingoism, horror. My return to the oval support, as opposed to the rectangular, in this group of paintings reflects the role of violence as an all-encompassing force, infiltrating every aspect of social and visual life. It is a space that allows me the freedom and inventiveness to "say something" in my painterly lexicon about the way violence shapes the way we see today.

"Us & Them" Exhibited at Pilar Parra & Romero Gallery, Madrid, 2006

"Knockout" Exhibited at Galerie Jean Luc & Takako Richard, Paris, 2007

May - October 2007