"John Hawaka: A Retrospective"

“Not to be unappreciative, but I cringe when someone says: "Your painting is 'nice'". A "nice" painting does not offend nor does it stimulate. I don't paint to match the colors of your couch or your rug or your drapes--I paint to stimulate. Like my work or not, I hope that the viewer walks away stimulated.” –John Hawaka

I visited the Alfa Art Gallery and saw the solo exhibition of seventy four year old artist John Hawaka. One of the more noteworthy mediums utilized by the artist is lacquer which he applies to poster board. I am not sure how he applies the lacquer but in some instances it appears as though he may have slowly poured it and in other cases as though he splashed it onto the surface. The way in which the lacquer and pigment react with their union to the surface on which they are applied creates a lovely and stunning effect. Each application of the lacquer creates a bleeding effect that is soft and wise concerning its mergence with other layers.

Some of his works are more abstracted and seem to focus on color and the texture that the lacquer makes, but others, such as Blue Dahlia apply the same techniques but in the form of a representational image. If my presumption about him pouring the medium is correct, then I imagine that it would be fairly difficult to create a specific image using such a method. Outside of this technique the artist also uses other styles of painting where he focuses on either outline and color, texture, or a sketch of an image.

Blue Dahlia shown on left

What I really enjoyed was that the gallery also had on display older works by Hawaka including the artists’ very first painting. This allowed me as a viewer (especially one who is new to Hawaka’s works) to see a change and even a progression in the artist’s style. What I specifically noticed was that Hawaka’s signature changed drastically over the years. The artists’ signature was originally legible with a strike through it, and over the years it has become more and more abstract. Currently it looks like tally marks. I thought that was really interesting because I had never seen an abstract signature before. His present signature could probably be better regarded as a symbol of the artist.

First Painting

Signature 1

Signature 2

Current Signature

John Hawaka’s works don’t seem to parallel mine in any particular way. Yet I enjoy the amount of freedom that is conveyed in his paintings. He is in no way restricted by any limitations or conventions, but rather it appears that he lets the paintings go wherever they wish. I later visited the Alpha Gallery’s website to see more examples of the artist’s works and while reading about the artist I learned that he doesn’t have anything in mind when he begins a painting but he instead just allows his imagination to flow. I enjoy this in art and would like to apply it to my own works. I tend to focus on accurate depictions, but I’d like to allow more expression rather than accuracy.

Select works by John Hawaka:

 

October 9th - October 29

Alpha Art Gallery, 108 Church Street, New Brunswick

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Kinetic Compositions: The Art of Alex Masket

I went to see the work of Alex Masket at the Art Library. On display were 13 works by the 22 year old severely autistic artist whose works are described as being a combination of mixed media, paper collage and color constructions.

Knowing of his ailment ahead of time, for some reason I was expecting his work to look as though they were produced by someone with autism. However, based on the work itself I never would have guessed. I suppose it’s because there are so many straight lines that neatly overlap one another and the general placement of items within the art were so masterfully laid that it didn’t necessarily distinguish Masket’s work from that of someone who does not have his ailment. When I saw his signature however, I immediately thought that it looks as though it were written by a child. The titling of the works is in a very neat and scriptive handwriting and it is clear that he has had someone else print that on the image for him.

His Giclee Pigment prints of Legos (Harmony, 2007; Echo, 2007; and Yellow Brick Road, 2007) are reminiscent of Mondrian paintings where there exist the primary colors which are sectioned off into geometric shapes. He literally lays colored Legos down and together they form the image. It shows the artists’ concern with placement and the role that color plays in it. They appear to be randomly laid, but they fit together nicely and the fact that the colors are in no specific order is interesting. It’s relieving not to see a pattern in this presentation and the spontaneity of the situation is intriguing.

In his vinyl adhesive works (on either canvass or poster board) Masket takes what appears to be large labels where he has peeled away the text and sticks to the canvass what is left of the label. Left with only the negative image of the labels (or vinyl adhesives) Masket uses the negative space and its contrast with the surface onto which it is place to create a work of art. He applies several of these adhesives overlapping them. They are ultimately quite interesting to see. Some of the images consist of black, white and red adhesives applied to black boards, black on white; and multi-colored adhesives on multi-colored backgrounds. Of Masket’s works I was most drawn to Red/Green, Fusion, and Color Fields.

In Color Field in particular he paints the canvass various colors such as red, blue, orange, black, and purple, then he applies gold, silver, purple, neon green, blue and red vinyl adhesive to the colored canvass. These are visually stunning. I am partial to color, but in this instance the vinyl adhesives overlap and the colors fuse and on the dark background the colors are further accentuated. It’s really amazing. The works are really crisp and clean and look like they could have been made by machines except for the fact that the artist fumbles with the adhesive which sticks to itself at times and fails to lie down properly. I like that this happens sometimes. It makes the work more unique. You can see that the artist was hands on with the project. I like mistakes in art. In this case it works. It also makes me think that because he is autistic he may not be as delicate with the material as he should be, and therefore he mishandles the vinyl, but it’s something very precious about that because he can’t help himself and it’s nice to have this in mind when seeing the works. This is one of the few times that I have actually kept the artist in mind while viewing their work. I even visualize him as he is creating these works and that creates a different experience that is also quite enjoyable.

The contents of the vinyl adhesives cannot be considered text because it’s not comprehensible in any way, but rather it is simply a sequence of letters, numbers and punctuation marks along with every other character imaginable on a standard keyboard. (I can just imagine the artist slapping his hands on the keyboard and whatever gets typed gets printed and applied to the work of art). It also looks like someone is trying to communicate something but they can’t quite find the right words and therefore they’re just making a bunch of noise. The artist uses a simple font like Arial which draws to mind the elementary alphabet and makes me think of childhood which also has its reference back to the artist.

The fact that these works are in a library setting detracts from them. Unlike a gallery setting where people come to see the art, here people come for a specific purpose (to take out a book, use a computer, study) and since they are so preoccupied they don’t even notice the works which are pushed to the back walls. The paintings are strong enough to attract attention, but if you are not looking for them you probably won’t notice them. I do think that they look rather out of place. They are just so vibrant and that they seem way too fast paced for their slow and subtle, lackluster surrounding. I just feel like they are not being appreciated in this particular setting. I’d prefer to see them on white gallery walls in abundance rather than on painted cinder block walls situated above and around bookshelves. The works do the place justice, but the place doesn’t offer anything to the works.

All in all I really enjoyed the mixed media pieces. I think I like them even more because of who the artist is and the fact that he does have autism. I think that is important because it shows that anyone can be an artist.

Art Exhibit Opening: Kinetic Compositions: The Art of Alex Masket. The work of Alex Masket, a gifted, young artist with severe autism will be shown all semester at the Art Library, Voorhees Hall, College Avenue Campus.

 

visit aemcreations.com for more info on Alex Masket

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Chapter 6: “The Studio Visit”

♥ “At the end of the day our business is to sell symptoms articulated as objects”

♥ When Takashi says that the artists’ hand should be left out of the painting, automatically Andy Warhol came to mind, and after reading on it is clear that he is a fan of Warhol’s work and his processes. I personally enjoy seeing the artists hand in any work, particularly painting. it just seems really mechanical and impersonal. If that is what an artist is going for then I guess it can be a good thing, but it can also be a bit boring. Takashi doesn’t necessarily have that problem because his works are already so busy and colorful that the lacy of the presence of his hand does not bother me.

♥ “Takashi’s practice makes Warhol’s look like a lemonade stand or a school play”

♥ It’s interesting that Marc Jacobs distinguishes between Takashi’s role as a painter and not a designer. He is sure to emphasize Takashi’s position as the painter of a piece which was later added to a pre-existing handbag, rather than him being labeled as the actual designer of the bags.

♥ I find it interesting that Oval Buddha also works as a self-portrait of the artist and that some consider whether or not it is sacrilegious. I think that makes it more interesting because it gives the viewer something to contemplate. When you hear the name Oval Buddha you assume that you are about to see a Buddha similar to those in history, but when I looked this up online, it couldn’t have been at a greater variance. I like that it has a typical name and brings to mind something familiar and turns out to be something completely different.

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