ANGELL GALLERY is pleased to present Celestial Bodies and Brief Intervals, an exhibition by Steve Driscoll. The exhibition shall be on view by appointment November 10 to December 5, 2020.
In recent bodies of work, Driscoll has been expressing the ways we interact with the natural world using digital video and photography. Whether bursts, blurs, or panoramas, this interaction can change and deepen our connections to time and the environment.
Still life with green apple studies the passage of time in 360 degrees, with inspirations of Fauvist and Post-Impressionist takes on the theme of the still life. In the Spring lockdown of COVID-19, Driscoll found himself—like many artists—bound to the studio. Building a rig that continuously drove a tripod and camera around a floral subject, Driscoll captured this composed scene in one full rotation every three days, documenting its life over time. As is true in our contemporary culture, Driscoll says, “I find that when taking photos with my phone, I am not quite happy with just one.” The limitlessness of our digital space compels us this way.
In the same desire, Driscoll spent months documenting the phases of the moon out on clear nights. Ultimately though, none of the pieces in the Celestial Bodies installation are a direct representation of these photographs. “I am never overly interested in depicting an image faithfully,” he says. “I experiment with gesture and process until the material reactions have a familiarity to the subject. I think these pieces are reminiscent of erosion, and the passage of time, which to me, is the idea of the moon, rather than the depiction of it.”
This exhibition unites the land and the skies, and the human instinct to document the ephemeral. As flowers, and moon phases, and all things go, these paintings become monuments to a moment in time, and to a memory.
__
View the exhibition tour here
