ZACH BUCEK - ACROBAT & THE SNEAKER DEAL
Opening reception is Saturday Jan 7. from 6 - 9 pm.
Exhibition runs until Jan 29.
Max Beckmann’s Acrobat on trapeze features a body in motion, but flattened and paused. This body is observed by the circus spectators depicted in the painting far below, and it is observed without the obstruction of distance by any viewer of the painting. This exhibition features paintings of similarly paused bodies, pressed flatly to the surface. The viewer's gaze has been confined further to details of the bodies, such as hands, feet, or bare limbs. The image cropping used in the paintings evokes the compression of space and movement seen in the televised sports spectacle. The sneaker deal is the inscription of athletic success upon the public's physical space, to be shared through mass consumption. Endorsement deals displace and quantify the achievements of these spectral, celebrity bodies. With the power of purchase, we are able to celebrate their elevated status and wear it too. However, within the imaginative world of these paintings, this act of worship is enveloped by erotic play, a trembling of desire and possibility.
ZACH BUCEK received his BFA from The University of Texas at Austin, and currently lives and works in Minneapolis, MN. Acrobat features a body of work created in Los Angeles, where the artist was based 2010-2016. He has been featured in group exhibitions, including Gravity (2013) at the Long Beach City College Art Gallery, New Works Salon (2013) at the Echo Park Film Center, and a solo exhibition Mysterious Traveler as part of the Kamikaze Exhibitions, #25 (2012) at PØST.