jay rechsteiner
home artworks statement & cv contact
...............................................................................................................................................................................................
Then is Now Bad Painting (Bad Painting Phase 3) |
|
THEN IS NOW BAD PAINTING is a series of paintings that I categorize as Bad Realism which is work that is not only bad in terms of style & craftsmanship but most importantly in terms of content. The badly executed paintings represent the underlying bad reality of the actions depicted, i.e. the paintings are as bad as the world they depict. The paintings are based on true events of the past, of events that once were accepted realities and are in contemporary Western society unthinkable. There is an obvious correlation between these acts/events and a political development of the time we are living in. Just like in the original Bad Painting series the work challenges the Western sense of beauty, perfectionism and fear of failure. I personally find making this work very liberating as I am not restricted in terms of how well I paint. Rooms are distorted, bodies are out of proportion, shadows fall into the wrong direction etc. Although I don't consider my paintings to belong to the popular genre of Bad Painting, I have always been fascinated by the freedom of 'bad' painters such as Joan Brown or Neil Jenney. I use the term Bad Painting as the title of this specific series of work. 'Badly' painting doesn't only set me free from the constraints of 'good' & 'decent' technique but also gives me a feeling of everything-goes/everything-is-fine. There are obviously a lot of people who don't like this series, not only because of the way they are painted but also due to the themes and subject matters. During the process of working on this series (since 2013) I have come to terms with the unpopularity of the work and now I simply don't care if people love, like, dislike or even hate my paintings.
|
|
Then is Now Bad Painting 01: A woman found guilty of witchcraft is being burned at the stake. 61cm x 76cm |
Then is Now Bad Painting 02: Reichskristallnacht 61cm x 76cm
|
Then is Now Bad Painting 03: A Minstrel show taking place at the local community theatre. 61cm x 76cm |
Then is Now Bad Painting 04: The police are arresting a man for kissing a man. 61cm x 76cm
|
Then is Now Bad Painting 05: A concentration camp for homosexuals 61cm x 76cm |
Then is Now Bad Painting 06: A Nazi citizen militia group on patrol (in Berlin). 61cm x 76cm |
