Melbourne Aussie talent, Jeremy Geddes just dropped a new painting on his blog. It is the first in a series based on a book of short stories under the same title by Stanislaw Lem.
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| 'A Perfect Vacuum' by Jeremy Geddes |
I first stumbled upon Geddes' work a few years back by way of Josh over at Creep Machine, purveyor in all things of import in the world of so called underground art, except without the pretentions.Besides Geddes' talent and skill in depicting high detail of his figures, he is also a master of background. Too many talented artists seem to forgo the challenge of scene and the narrative that should envelop the figure.
Geddes has been focusing on sci-fi iconography of the astronaut a ’la Space Odyssey and the waste land myth for some time now. I argue this is not mere gimmickry or trendy pop. There is intelligence behind his art and as the "Low Brow" or whatever you wana call it art scene seems to get more trite and pretentious; we need this kind of work to bring us out of the crayola coma and away from computer crutch art. His figures are juxtaposed in the natural world, but in isolation and often in harm or hurt. The concept of astronaut alone in space seems to act as a foil to enhance his narrative. His worlds are often depicted as stark, cold and abandoned muted environments. The astronauts, as if wounded, attempt to engage this world only to fail. These figures are often surrounded by pigeons, known in San Francisco as homeless birds often found competing with bums for food scraps in the Mission. Here too they often seem to represent the loss of humanity and clearly contrast the stoic figures drifting in unsatisfied solace.
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| 'There is Glory in our Failure' Jeremy Geddes |
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| 'The Street' Jeremy Geddes |
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