Diverse Meanderings at CFEVA and Tiger Strikes Asteroid, by Chip Schwartz
"Another abstract art show at Tiger Strikes Asteroid makes a good point of comparison. Two artists, Brandon Anschultz and John Tallman, share the small space with works that play up the process of making an abstract art work. The artists have similar naturalistic processes that they use to create fairly minimal pieces.
John Tallman uses dyed urethane resin to coat the surfaces of fiberboard into planes of reflective hues. The curious element of these shaped pieces of pure color is that, while one peers into their seeming simplicity, the inconsistencies of the resin and the reflections become apparent. Reflection here is not just a literal play on light, but in a way, a form of introspection as the depth of these pieces emerges.
Using plastic bags and armatures, Tallman also fills makeshift molds with resin as well, sometimes creating geologic-looking forms of unnaturally colored sediment. Of particular interest are the orange-tan, almost flesh-colored hunks of resin he has hanging in pieces from one section of wall. They seem like some sort of cloning experiment gone wrong, and cause a notable amount of anxiety in the viewer; the uneasiness is what makes them stand out.
Oil paint applied to porous surfaces is Brandon Anschultz’s primary medium in this show. The pigments stick together and dry in their natural states, while the oils themselves are absorbed into the material they are painted on. This forms colorless stains around the primary forms, and makes them look almost like parts of the floor of a studio instead of something hanging on a wall.
Two of Anschultz’s creations are 3-dimensional balls of material including paint and sawdust, rubber gloves and resin. The latter is literally composed of old gloves Anschultz used in making other art. He balled them up with whitish resin and let it all congeal in a bag – certainly a better use of discarded gloves than tossing them in a trash bin."
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