Alexis Rockman had an exhibit at the National Portrait gallery when we went as a class a few weeks ago, so I decided to use him for my artist blog post. His work revolves around themes of environmental hazards and post-apocalyptic worlds. The image above is called East 82nd Street, depicting the total take-over of an urban setting by futuristic looking plants.
The actual painting has very visible drip marks from the paint, which is caked onto the surface of the piece. This really accentuates the idea that the plants have grown over something that was there before. There is a glaze over the entire painting giving the plants an almost futuristic shine on them. The flies and the flower are the only part of the piece that are not red; this leads the viewer to the conclusion that there is a small amount of hope in the outcome, even if that hope has no place for any animal larger than a fly.
The only suggestion I can think of to better the piece is to make the plants (some of them) look more like they are crawling over things, rather than hanging off of them. It would make the invasive, harmfulness of the red plants more apparent.
Source: Alexis Rockman
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