this dream, america

Shay Kun
I am engaging in making a coherent series visually, which reflects ‘trends’ and consumption combined by decay and deterioration, a subtle kind of contemporary ‘vanitas’, As well as Life styles of the presumed hip lists ‘glitter’ of the rich (Forbes magazine).
Is it a perverted human instinct to display, for others to see, the level of luxury consumables we can afford? Are we harkening after the pack pecking order, or attempting to attract a mate, in the way a peacock displays his feathers?

Examining contemporary human feather fanning displays through their twisted modern manifestations as macho displays of materialistic consumption and regurgitation across class boundaries. The painted individuals rejoice and revel in `big up` tales. These complexities are addressed by primate behavior in social evolution within a materialistic society and are poking our evolved instincts. Just what is civilization doing to the human animal?

The Paintings portray the empty trophy manifestations of wealthy ‘homes’, luxurious living and dream life styles. Lusciously rendered they have the serene passion of icon painting - images of the holy relics of consumer religion. Both rich and austere, the paintings glamour is deadpanning, even deadly. Capturing the ‘splendor’ and ‘poverty’ of the 'perfect' existence, these portraits of owners without their ‘things’ imply a shiny and anonymous world, a place with all the signs of life but no atmosphere.
Despite the apparent banality of the subject matter, these detailed, coolly observant works are simultaneously a kind of sociological document (how many attitudes, conventions, assumptions are locked up in that array of upscale living?) and a figurative reinterpretation of classic painting combined by modern comic and graphic traces: exercises in pure and potent composition. Seemingly impassive and thoughtfully impersonal, these are nevertheless seductive, and fascinating. These manifestations, combining material that “interferes” with the practice of art, such as incorporating graffiti – things you should not do to art – questioning the do’s and don’ts, maturity and youth as well as lifestyles and cultures.
Using paint, my work will show the relationships and boundaries between tabloid and craft, encompassing that which is used to define pottery, leisure time, and furniture. It is seldom used to cultivate meanings, explore class boundaries or implement ways to utilize patterns and surfaces and facilitate the angles and perspectives of labor and precision infused into celebratory subject matter. Subjects that deal with expressions of wealth and decay subvert these meanings and attack them from several angles: the logical, technical and sociological.