"Corpse Flower"
1989
Pencil and ink on paper
18 1/8 x 24 inches
The conceit behind Franklin Parrasch Gallery's recent exhibition "Jason Fox/Alexis Rockman: Motion Parallax" is simple:
"From 1988-2002 [artists Jason Fox and Alexis Rockman] shared a studio space - divided by an eight-foot high wall - that kept them physically apart while audibly in close range. Over that wall, a flow of ideas, conversations about life and art, as well as a host of objects were lobbed back and forth on a continuous basis."It's a slight concept, but I like the idea; the personality and interests of a studio mate can markedly affect one's work. I imagine the two young artists engaged in happy labor on their respective sides of the studio partition, creative energy and ideas inspiriting the space.
Odd, then, that I don't see a "flow of ideas" exchanged in the artwork. I acknowledge a certain shared boyishness - Fox likes "super-hero comics, science fiction movies, [and] hard rock album covers," while Rockman is into "gargantuan insects, morphed mammals, and carnivorous flora" - but the paintings and drawings at Franklin Parrasch don't provide plain examples of conceptual intercourse between the two artists. It seems a stretch to argue that Rockman's alternately earnest and winking examination of natural history and environmentalism shares "overriding concerns" with Fox's grisly pictures of humanity's dark or lugubrious qualities.
"Cloud Forest"
1994
Pencil and ink on paper
18 1/8 x 24 inches
Curatorial concepts aside, however, "Motion Parallax" has a lot to offer. Fox includes several strong, mixed media paintings of red masks and skeletal angels that prefigure his more mature and better known work. Rockman's early works are often excellent, and his watercolor paintings and drawings are generally superior to his oil or acrylic efforts.
At Franklin Parrasch, two of Rockman's ant species portraits are particularly striking, and his pencil on paper series of "Untitled Field Drawings" is comprised of eleven handsomely rendered vespids, mosquitoes, mantids, beetles, a walking stick and one spider.
Rockman's more loose, playful pieces are especially remarkable. Works like "Cloud Forest" marry illustrative detail to explosive and vibrant ink washes, and Rockman's "Corpse Flower" flirts with an almost Kandinsky-like lyrical abstraction (though I doubt the urbane Russian would have smiled upon a parasitic plant so named because it stinks of rotting flesh in order to attract potential insect pollinators).
"Untitled Field Drawings" (1 of set of 11)
1994
Pencil on paper
7 x 0 1/4 inches
Photo credit: all images, Alexis Rockman; courtesy Franklin Parrasch Gallery
(Note: This post originally appeared on the art blog, Hungry Hyaena.)
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