NYC Exhibition Review: Jimmy Joe Roche& Matthew McGuinness at RARE Gallery
Jimmy Joe Roche - "New Power" - 2008, 9'7" x 2" x 6'6", acrylic on cotton rag paper
Currently, an array of noteworthy pieces are gracing the walls of RARE Gallery in Chelsea. I made it to the gallery in one piece late Sunday afternoon after trekking northward from Philly, walking through a series of fierce sun-showers (yes, FIERCE), and getting waylaid by the traffic-halting Gay Pride Parade through Madison Square Garden.
The Verdict? Worth all of the adventures and mishaps en route.
Size comparison.
In this particular exhibition, Jimmy Joe Roche, a visual artist arising from Baltimore's DIY scene, proved his mettle as a fine craftsman, all conceptual concerns aside for the moment. Known for the intense psychedelic imagery of his video collaborations with fellow Baltimorean and lord of all dance parties, Dan Deacon, Roche deserves a great deal more credit for his personal oeuvre, and these works in particular. "Totems," as the show is titled, refer to his wall-size hand cut pieces. Paper of epic proportion is covered in gesso, painted a solid color, and cut painstakingly by hand. Each totem is comprised of multiple overlapping, interwoven cuts.
Jimmy Joe Roche - Installation View
The palettes range from perpetually vibrating fluorescent blue and orange to more a more nuanced black and white. When confronting these pieces, one must not only face the color and shapes themselves, but the intense and implied duration of time involved in the creation of each. This experience is overwhelming, and provides a much more complete view of Roche as a practicing artist.
Jimmy Joe Roche - "Old Growth" - 2008, "8'8" x 2" x 11', acrylic and dayglo acrylic latex on cotton rag paper
Another eye-opening experience at RARE was becoming aware of another emerging artist, Matthew McGuinness, whose work explores social ideas of sustainability in what it means to be "green" in one's local surroundings.
Matthew McGuinness - "Driver's Side (Front)" - 2008, 17.25" x 8" x 17.25", Waste vegetable oil and glycerin soap
McGuinness' work, entitled "Rudolf: A Salutary Pipeline", is a series of collages and glycerin sculpture representing an amazing tale. It begins with McGuinness gathering waste oils from restaurants in Chelsea and Brooklyn. He then converts the lipids to BioDiesel in his garage, which is used to fuel his personal truck. The glycerin residues are used to make natural soap, as well was soap casts of the wheels of his truck. The left front hub sculpture is displayed at RARE, and there are plans for the casting of the other three, as well as one spare. The oily musk given off by the glycerin takes on a new viscerality once it is contextualized.
McGuinness also creates delicate collages exploring topics of consumerism and environmental waste in New York City. They are mounted on crushed velvet and displayed beside the wheel. The importance of craft in the collages makes this body of work an appropriate complement (or foil!) to Roche's pieces.
Matthew McGuinness - "With Accounting, With Conversion, in Two" - 2008, "23" x 27", Mixed Media Collage on crushed velvet
Thank you to RARE Gallery for curating a notable show.
The exhibition will run through July 26, 2008. If you can't get there in person, don't fret. See more from Jimmy Joe Roche on his website, and read up on the sustainable journeys of Matthew McGuinness on his blog for the Salutary Pipeline project.
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