US artist Trey Abdella creates 'Almost Heaven' experience
By: By Yang Xiaoyu
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
US artist Trey Abdella creates 'Almost Heaven' experience
The Winner Takes It All (2022) by Trey Abdella. [This photo and all following photos provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Majestic canvases pulsating with bold colors and drama, hyper-realistic portrayals that deceive the eye, and assemblages of painting and objects that recall Robert Rauschenberg's Combines – it is hard not to be captivated by US artist Trey Abdella's work.
The 28-year-old artist is holding his first Asia museum solo, Almost Heaven , at the X Museum in Beijing. Curated by the museum's director Huang Xufu, the show, running until July 17, brings together 10 large-scale works from the artist's recent practice.
"Trey Abdella is an artist ready to explode in the international art circuit," Huang said, adding that he decided to mount a museum solo for the artist two years back. Graduating from the New York Academy of Art MFA program in 2019, the Brooklyn-based artist has held shows around the world, including gallery solos in Germany and South Korea.
Neighborhood Watch (2022) by Trey Abdella.
The exhibit's title "Almost Heaven" is the first phrase from John Denver's 1971 hit Take Me Home Country Roads . "The song always reminds me of growing up in West Virginia and I thought the phrase 'almost heaven' was always kind of tragic for the idea of heaven being just out of reach but always being miserably pursued," Abdella said in a video in which he spoke behind a puppet.
"The phrase also encapsulates what the show is about," said the artist, who mentioned in previous interviews that he is "interested in exploring the misery of the American Dream."
At the Beijing show, Abdella plays with iconographic elements of American holidays, habits, and trivialities, spotlighting the dark side of his own homeland culture.
For example, in The Winner Takes It All , a photo showing a family with three children juts out of a broken "Live, Laugh, Love" picture frame. The dad's face is behind the frame, and the mom's face is scratched.
I Love You (2022) by Trey Abdella.
Abdella remarked the painting is a portrait 0f divorce, which portrays the deterioration of many American families.
A catchphrase originating from an early 20th-century poem, "Live, Laugh, Love" grew ubiquitous in the 21st century, appearing on merchandise, tattoos, and home décor. The artist said he grew up in a house with the phrase inscribed throughout pretty much every inch of it.
Another work that appears equally satirical is Neighborhood Watch , a long, narrow painting that invites viewers to peep through what is behind the pleated blinds pulled down by a hand in the foreground. Through the crack, they are greeted by a silver-haired man who is watering his garden and waving his hand toward the viewer, with an awkward smile rippling across his face.
Holiday Spirit (2022) by Trey Abdella.
"Abdella created a confusing, embarrassing moment, making me wonder who is the real voyeur in the painting," said a viewer who recently visited the show.
The piece mocks Neighborhood Watch, a controversial national law enforcement program that mobilizes civilians to help prevent crimes and vandalism in their communities, said X Museum assistant curator Fang Jiashun.
Also tinged with voyeurism and drama are paintings such as I Love You and Hot and Heavy , filling viewers with the thrill of spying on others engaged in private, intimate behaviors.
Abdella's museum solo also mirrors his ongoing artistic pursuit. "For the show, I really wanted to push the painting in a direction that would blur the lines between assemblage and sculpture," said the young artist, adding that he used various materials to play on the illusionistic depth in his recent creations.
Sunday Service (2022) by Trey Abdella.
Several showpieces bespeak this effort.
In Holiday Spirit , the large canvas is covered by a melange of cut-up Christmas decorations including a fake Christmas tree, glittering light bulbs, and various stuffed dolls. On the top left corner of the artwork is a hologram fan generating dazzling 3D Christmas-themed images. A woman's anxious, sad face appears in the middle of the boisterous festivities.
"The anxiety triggered by Christmas is akin to Chinese people's anxiety during the Spring Festival," curator Huang Xufu said.
In the autobiographic work Sunday Service , a panel is shaped into a young male punk's head with a Mohican hairstyle. A church scene and an illuminated stained-glass cross are in the teen's head. A big bunny paw scratches the lace covering the teen's head, like trying to help him clear brain fog and beckons him to attend the Sunday service.
Caught in a Lie (2021) by Trey Abdella.
This artwork shows the clash between the teen's growing individuality and the religious belief that he inherited from his parents, said a visitor to the show.
Another showpiece that utilizes multiple materials is Caught in a Lie . A big spider sculpture, evoking those by Louise Bourgeois, lurks on the ground, making viewers aghast. Above the spider is a cotton-made web inhabited by numerous tiny spiders. In the middle of the giant web hangs a shard-shaped painting portraying a closeup of a woman's mouth receiving a dental checkup with the dental mirror eerily reflecting a man's gaze.
Knotted also strikes spectators as male-gazey, voyeuristic, and suspenseful. It features the rear of a blond woman's head while she is combing her knotted hair, and a wig artfully incorporated into the painting. However, the comb and the woman's bracelet reflect a man's glare, creating Hitchcockian suspense.
Knotted (2021) by Trey Abdella.
Abdella is good at capturing drama from monotony. He also ventures beyond the canvas into experimental territory, unveils and translates humans' innermost, universal feelings, said the curators.
Also on view with the Trey Abdella solo at the museum is Kick Inside , a group show curated by Rao Kuizhen featuring four female sculptors from four different countries.
Gutted (2022) by Trey Abdella
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Hot and Heavy (2020) by Trey Abdella.
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When I first glanced at this article I thought that the works were quite weird, but then I read the text and looked more closely at the artworks and realized that they were not only unique but also very creative and illustrative - excellent artistry and interpretations by a very young artist.
By the way, back in Toronto we were members of Neighbourhood Watch in our community, and I don't think it deserves the negativity stated in this article.