Oct 17th – Dec 5th, 2009
Edward Cella Art+Architecture 6018 Wilshire Los Angeles, CA
Catalog Essay:
Art, at times, responds directly to the space in which it is being exhibited. It may add or underline existing structures, or it may provoke a sense of unease in its presence. In the case of the latter, the viewer must question what in its inherent structure makes it incompatible with the surroundings.
R. Nelson Parrish’s work accomplishes both of the above. While the slick, hand polished artificial surface of his objects fit into contemporary architectural spaces, they also point subtly to a notion of contradictions. Colors concealed under layers of resin shine through the fragmented face of ostensibly unfinished wood planks. The clear straight lines of color hide – even negate- the elaborate process of coating and building up. This process takes months of layering, creating an added contradiction to the seemingly simplicity of the surface design.
While continuing with American West Coast trajectories of the 20th century – critics have compared his work with John McCracken, though one could argue if anything but the handling of the materials parallels McCracken’s work with that of Parrish – the artist has developed his own distinct formal language. Parrish’s style alludes to the interior architecture of the 1960’s and 70’s, automotive design, and to the revival of linear formality; and thus becomes more of a reflection of a young contemporary generation of artists. One may say the West Coast art scene of the 1960’s has found one of its disciples, whose work departs with new conceptual momentums and impulses: the notion of speed and sport have become an integral part of the making.
Parrish applies layer over layer of resin and embeds a line of color, or racing stripes, as he calls them, in each. One won’t find these colors in the grey November days of Berlin. Instead, one finds them in the earthen colors of the American West Coast; from Alaska to Baja, reflecting a particular landscape and its character. Yet, the natural materials and colors are juxtaposed by the artificiality of the making. Or maybe, to be precise, it’s more of a duality than an opposition – a dialectic, a mutually dependent structure Parrish establishes.
The artist refers to the narrow-high standing plank shaped objects as totems, suggesting more than just the similarity of shape. The emblematic characteristic of a totem makes the signifier for a venerated other. For Parrish, the totem becomes a symbol of his appreciation of nature and his concern for human interference in its order. Each step into the landscape, even a quick gaze, is a moment of interference, which reveals its artificiality.
When Parrish places his totems in sand piles, amidst furniture, or in clean neutral spaces, it is a testimony to the origin of the natural and the man-made. Through the process of transition and translation, the original purpose of the material moves and relocates in new interpretative environments; their function is re-read under new conditions and into new narratives.
While the color schemes and the raw materiality of the wood are recognized, one simultaneously acknowledges the elaborate, obsessive work it undergoes is man-made, and thus artificial. But where is the line to be drawn? How does one define artificial versus natural? And does the sterility of an urban interior space, as a new context, make the material itself something synthetic and artificial? The transparency of the resin seemingly conceals the natural texture of the wood, partially fragmented by stripes. Yet is it the wood that has been processed and the colors naturally reflect the color scheme of the West Coast? Is the work therefore then only a mere reflection of the original sources?
Parrish lays no claim on making a socio-political statement, nor does he aim for the deconstruction of an urban myth, yet he invites the viewer to re-think the notion of the boundaries between the original source and the designed, and the processed and developed object. Thus, Parrish’s work is less of a narration of impulses, ideas and concepts; but rather a line up of questions posed.
Dorothea Schöne
Curator and Art Historian in Los Angeles and Berlin
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