SIGN OF CONFIDENCE
A review of Archie Scott Gobber: Super Power
Archie Scott Gobber, "Be a Good Loser," enamel on canvas, 70" x 88", 2010. Image: courtesy of the gallery and artist
Dolphin Gallery
Kansas City, Missouri
November 12, 2010 — January 8, 2011
Archie Scott Gobber has been earmarked as a clever, if at times sardonic, painter of words. He is known for slyly deconstructing social catchphrases and articulating the result with the facility of a consummate sign painter. Sometimes political, sometimes personal, his text paintings are always bereft of punctuation, void of imagery, and never intended for a single interpretation. Gobber revels in the idiosyncrasies, failures, and ruptures inherent to written communication. The mutable essence of words, their ability to flex with context, is at the very heart of his work.
Gobber’s latest solo exhibition at the Dolphin, Super Power, is comprised of six enamel paintings (all created in 2010), each inserted in its own unique way within the lofty 1,300-square-foot space. For Sale, a large canvas turned hyperbolic "for sale by owner" sign, lies supine on the gallery floor, one corner propped up by an unseen armature in a posture of malaise. The painting is a tautology, stating its obvious availability for purchase; but also, if you are game, it is an institutional critique of the art gallery system, or simply a cringing comment directed toward the current collapse of the housing market. Double Dip, a modest 13-by-18-inch canvas depicting its title painted in creamy pastels, hangs in the corner, next to a convincingly printed doppelganger (also on canvas) on the adjacent wall. Beyond being a snarky one-liner connecting the morally reprehensible social concept of "double dipping" to the parlance of an ice-cream parlor, here Gobber also prods the notion of the original, and the multiple, price points, affordability, and accessibility.
Archie Scott Gobber, installation view of "For Sale," enamel on canvas, 66" x 108". Image: courtesy of the gallery and artist
Archie Scott Gobber, installation view of "…Of My Own," enamel on canvas, 84" x 70", 2010. Image: courtesy of the gallery and artist
From across the room one is confronted with the man-sized painting, …Of My Own, its text in bold turquoise letters, red outlines, and luminous halos stating: I HAVE TRIUMPHS/TROUBLES OF MY OWN — the "-IUMPH" of "triumphs" overlapping the "-OUBLE" of "troubles," or vice versa, depending on whether you are a glass-is-half-full or glass-is-half-empty kind of person. Gobber’s sharp tone is momentarily tempered with a brand of sentimentality, somehow both unexpected and cliché. The internal monologue begins, as the viewer inevitably reads the painting and reflects on his or her own triumphs and troubles — Gobber’s use of the universal "I" connects the viewer to the painting, to the artist, to the rest of the world. This painting is not hanging but is propped on a white base with a haze of turquoise spray paint barely perceptible above it on the wall; this carefully orchestrated overspray is a gesture creating a dialogue between the piece and the physical space it occupies. Gobber is exploring a parallel here, between the syntactical context of the words and the spatial context of a painting in a gallery.
Subtle, yet pervasive, the slightly sweet, slightly acrid scent of enamel paint hangs around Gobber’s paintings like an aura — signifying work done, a real blue-collar, dirt-and-sweat kind of work. These are big paintings, with a lot of paint. Both …Of My Own and Be A Good Loser are particularly rewarding for their haptic layering. With these two, Gobber shows a sign of increased confidence, as he slackens his more typically fastidious painting methods. He is learning what is important, what needs to be precise and what can be left as a welcomed aberration. The history of the paintings' creation is revealed through hints of pencil outlines, tape marks, drips, and diaphanous ghosts of under-painting; and through this palimpsest, a palpable sense of time and energy spent is conveyed. Archie Scott Gobber is a painter’s painter. The emphasis on craft and painterly skill throughout his word paintings is reminiscent of Edward Ruscha’s. This physicality is in contrast to the more common form of language-based art — the reductively spare conceptual texts by artists such as Joseph Kosuth or Lawrence Weiner.
Archie Scott Gobber, installation view of "Super Power," showing from left to right, "For Sale," "I've Forgotten," enamel on canvas, 36" x 45 1/2", 2010, "… Of My Own," and "Be a Good Loser." Image: courtesy of the gallery and artist
Super Power is the kind of slippery phrase Gobber loves because of its potential for multiple meanings. Is he calling out the oftentimes "too serious" tone art and artists can take? Is he referencing the United States’ role as a global political and economical influence? Is he alluding to the transformative and connecting power of language itself? There is, as always a twinge of sarcasm in Gobber’s work, but Super Power’s repartee is tempered with sincerity, as his painting ability becomes more confident and his use of language more mature.
-re-
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As with any work from any artist, to dismiss it off-hand is not condusive to a conversation, which is really the main point in making art, IMO. To probe and to question is important - to denigrate and belittle without proper construction is not.
As an artist and person with lifelong exposure to the arts and other artists, I find your critique to be inappropriate, incorrectly considered and generally officious. The other comments below, especially Scott's, speak for themselves. Whoever you are, you just don't get it.
It was a fine show.
Architecture (with the exception of 'experimental architecture' which in reality is more of an art) serves to make safe, livable, structure. Art has no meaning or reason for being; that's what makes it art, humanity truly has no need for it to exist, but we feel a drive to make it anyways. To try to 'figure out' a proper definition of what is and isn't art is missing the boat entirely JK/Jessica. Look up Michael Craig Martin's an Oak Tree (1973), look at and know all the art theory and art history you can learn, and finally keep an open mind. Unlike a scientific theory that can be proven or disproven by a single scientist, a person's art cannot live or die according to one critic or artist's opinion. JK/Jessica don't stop learning, but stop being closed-minded to art that doesn't meet your expectations of what art should and can be.
Gobber's work is a semiotician's delight containing in it all aspects of a sign system. Just as Thiebaud's paint became the icing on his cakes, Gobber's becomes the form of thought. To say it is not art is simply to provoke or is fascist. Gobber belongs to a long lineage, from ancient Chinese calligraphers to Twombly, and I am thankful to have his "pleasure of the text".
J.W. Helkenberg,
Who do you think is producing strong relevant work at the moment? Anyone outside of Kansas City?
Hi everyone!
This conversation is soooo sexeeeee!! haha
Just wanted to throw in that since these two are causing such a "stink", I am sure they are doing a great job of making everyone research their work/website, which is how I was recently shown a postcard of their next upcoming exhibition, which has a Whoop Dee Doo logo on it, along with what appears to be a quote by Whoop Dee Doo below the image seen here: http://kcmo.fox4kc.com/content/keyhole-1?utm_sour...
I just wanted to let everyone know that Whoop Dee Doo has nothing to do with this exhibition, nor did we ever state what we seem to be quoted as saying.
Thanks everyone!
Jaimie Warren, Whoop Dee Doo
I feel compelled to offer a number of quotes from the section entitled "Emptiness from Thomas Moore's, The Souls Religion. Because it's too long for one compartment, I will offer it in a few to be read as one message.
"I know from my years in the academic world that students are channeled into methods of study that put severe limits on their imaginations and intensify their egotism. They are taught to worry about the validity of their thoughts rather than to trust their intuitions and imaginations. All fields have succumbed to the lure of materialistic methods of learning. Even art students find security in machinery and numbers. All of this is aimed at saving the student from facing the limits of knowledge and talent. It is protective and THEREFORE NEUROTIC…
An alternative to worry about being right all the time would be to go for INSIGHT rather than provable fact. It is possible to reflect on our motives and the roots of our thinking without becoming insecure or foolish. All knowledge is rooted in a point of view and in a deep fantasy about how things are. In that sense it is all relative, all EMPTY. But at the same time it is reliable and livable.
Notice how often in this discussion I use words like security and anxiety. Our problem with knowledge is largely an emotional one. Above all WE DON'T WANT TO BE WRONG. The secular form of scientific knowledge, in bracketing out mystery and mysticism, leaves us on shaky ground. Only part of our intelligence is engaged, the part that works with facts and measurement. Since that approach is incomplete, it leaves us worried, because intuitively we know that there is more to be considered. A sense of mystery, and even Nicholas’s (Nicholas of Cusa) idea of sacred ignorance, would round out our intelligence. Not knowing would be part of intelligence---and idea many religions have taught for eons.
Nicholas's approach to spiritual intelligence had two parts: sacred ignorance and appeal to images. Once you glimpse that facts are rooted in deeper fantasies and images, you examine your world-picture in which the facts are set. As Joseph Campbell said so compellingly, we are always living a myth, not in the negative sense of that word, but a profound, life-shaping imagination of what the world is and how life works. This imagination may be supported by facts and experience, and can be consonant with other kinds of intelligence. BUT IF WE TAKE OUR VIEWS LITERALLY AND TOO SERIOUSLY, WE WILL BE DELUDED...
…Images foster wonder rather than conclusions and make for people of WISDOM RATHER THAN OPINION…
...Anxiety stems from a weakness in imagination. Instead of living courageously at the edge of understanding, knowing that they don't know everything, many latch onto a system of belief that answers any and all questions. These answers then become a protective fence around a nervous core. But this illusory edifice creates false certainty. The failure to find a satisfying solution to mystery translates into extravagant claims and an attitude of righteousness.
If you research Jessica Logsdon and the Keyhole Gallery, please know that Whoop Dee Doo (www.whoopdeedoo.tv) is not affiliated with their next exhibition listed here:
http://www.jessicalogsdon.com/index.html
thank you!
Jaimie Warren
how dare we mock society in these trying unbelievable typewriting times. to think that one artist is beyond the conceptualization of word and form is demeaning to all women. Dear child of thine crossroads, i bow upon thine feet in a wasteful society of filth and rubbish seen only at birdies bridal shop. i call forth lord cantaloupe.
watch an enlightening video about Post Structuralism here http://vimeo.com/17431354
Moore, like Campbell and many others is a generalist. For me, generalists are more important than ever in helping us piece some sort of coherent world view for ourselves. I grew up with many religious demons and he and others like him such as Matthew Fox and Richard Rohr have helped me see the integration of eastern and western religions as well as the validity of atheism and humanism---I see all as relevant.
I remember going to Ford's Left Bank in 1992 (I think?) and seeing Gobber's pieces on the wall. I was struck by the sensitivitity of their craft and precision, by their intelligence and timeliness and most of all by their presence. Archie Gobber, Jim Leedy, David Ford, Peregine Honig, James Woodfill and several others are artists of the first order and are as good as are any to be found anywhere. I was not much of a part of the scene there due to health problems, but am proud to have lived in KC for several years and to have met most of the best artists. John O'Brien is one of the finest gallerists in the region and his shows are comparable to shows anywhere, including New York. Much of this discussion has been out of bounds to me...but must say that I wish I'd gotten to see Gobber's show in person. It looks wonderful on line.
I agree with fashion panda, this Jeff Hogue guy hasn't a clue. Bo-Ring. Now that Helkenberg guy, he has something to say, am I right? Who even has time for HyperRealism? I mean I know I need my art to say it faster, no more sublimity already, bring back the grocery store. Yo, I'm out.
What was the last time any serious scientist or linguist has consulted artists regarding insight into their field?
What is Gobber's work doing that poetry doesn't do better? What is it showing to us that semiotics already doesn't know? At best the work functions as illustration on a grandiose scale. What bothers me the most is how the artist's resume and associations are evoked as if that should make us stop questioning the validity of the work. However, the self-promotional nature of the attack that began this discussion is also quite obvious and ridiculous.
Hey, y'all - I just wanted to pop in and post an apology for some of the comments being delayed or not showing up for awhile. We've also had a report of comment truncation. We've not had so much action on any one article before so these problems are new to my knowledge. Several comments were delayed due to ending up in the spam queue. We'll make it a point to check that queue more frequently. I'd let comments go unmoderated, but I hate the possibility of spam getting plastered all over the site (although our filters do a very good job - perhaps TOO good of a job - inevitably some Russian gambling site would slip through and spam all over the place). Anyway, carry on. And again - our apologies for the inconvenience.
All this is a pretty clever way for Scotty to get a Wikkipedia page.....way to go dude!! Garry Noland
I have been lurking in this thread with keen interest since it was brought to my attention by the same person who first introduced me to Kansas City's Arts crews & who taught me to have a profound respect for the self-made wonderworkers that have constructed & composed KC's scene. I met this person with his family after a protest on The Plaza, long before September 11th or the dot-com collapse or the current banking crisis, he had locked himself & his family out of their vehicle, and I had a clothes hanger.
My earliest remembrances of Archie's work are from this time period of young prophets raising their voices against corruption & greed, fighting the anti-globalization fight, standing up to FTAA, WTO, World Bank, rigged Presidential (s)election campaigns, etc. I remember Archie displaying his ironic corruptions of corporate logos, in the vein of The Yes Men, in the same galleries that held planning meetings for protest marches. And if I recall correctly, Archie had an association with a certain Mike McCormick, who fashioned himself as a secretive & stylish radical leader, suspicious of outsiders.
Given the intervening & present calamities, I find that Archie's art was and remains relevant, and I like to imagine that he is as dedicated to his early & prophetic ideals as ever (or at least a sleeper agent in McCormick's Marxist guerilla army!). I'm glad that people like Archie are becoming "insiders", as I expect he will bring down all secret combinations from within.
As for the controversy of this thread, I find it enthralling. Imbued with impunity heralded from the darkest recesses of hacker culture, I find this whole discussion to represent character sketches in the taxonomy of trolls & trolling. The fire that burns in our hearts works against ourselves as the devouring turns inward!
The End Is Nigh. I'm with Fashion Panda.
GO SCOTT GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!