RACKSTRAW DOWNES
2012-10-22Downes paints from observation, creating his paintings on site, from start to finish. As a consequence Downes moves with the seasons: April through October in New York and November through April in Texas. The paintings in this exhibition are equally divided between the two locations.
Downes says he chooses a site because it satisfies a “personal need” or has a kind of magic, but whatever his reasons are, he seems to choose sites that challenge him as a painter and that remain devoid of narrative, rhetoric and cliché. In this exhibition, the chosen locations of his Texas paintings include a graveyard, (as in two paintings titled Remains at the Site of the Old Military Cemetery, Fort D.A. Russell, No. 1 and No. 2), a local, outdoor dance floor (as in Outdoor Dance Floor, Presidio, TX) and simply the vast, expansive sand hills (as in Presidio: In the Sand Hills Looking East with ATV Tracks & Cell Tower and Presidio: In the Sand Hills Looking East with ATV Tracks & Cell Tower).
Similarly in the New York paintings, Downes goes for the ordinary, rather than the extraordinary, with the same tenacious detail. In the pair of paintings, Under the West Side Highway at 155th Street, Looking South and Sand, Gravel and Mulch: NYC Parks Dept. Facility at 155th Street, Downes captures the largest vista possible: the maximum distance in front of him as well as to either side. His comprehension of space is equal to his attention to time. Downes paints AM paintings or PM paintings, sun paintings or rain paintings always true to a specific light and exact time.
Exhibition runs through to November 24th, 2012
Betty Cuningham Gallery
541 West 25th street
New York
NY
10001
