Boxi – Grey Area at Carmichael Gallery

There’s an uneasy quiet pervading the Carmichael Gallery when you’re viewing “Grey Area”, the solo exhibit of artist Boxi.  It’s the kind of foreboding silence one experiences right before a tragedy; the ominous feeling that something significant is about to transpire.

Boxi’s large-scale paintings are filled with a strange tension, a marriage of beauty and bleak united.  Isolated figures stand amidst a canvas of gray painted backdrops.  These iconic figures are painted with a realism that is uncanny, appearing as if they have been cut out of their original landscapes and transported into an alternate reality. The realism of the figures is contrasted by the paint drips and brush strokes that decorate the canvas and interact with the space within. These gestural marks transform the paintings into a surreal landscape and set forth a narrative in the viewer’s mind.  In “Paranoia” (2009) an anonymous figure faces us, his identity disguised by his protective suit and mask.  He is starkly lit, as if he has been photographed with studio lights, and appears to be staring at us the viewer.   Meanwhile in the background a landscape is perceived, layered by washes of grey paint and drips that bleed throughout the sky, encroaching upon the mysterious figure and threatening to envelop him.  Something is very wrong here.

 “Embrace” (2009) is shown twice at the exhibition, with one version painted for the gallery space at a magnificent size of 106 by 75 inches.  This painting immediately reminded me of the two René Magritte’s 1928 paintings “The Lovers”, the version that shows an anonymous couple kissing, their heads covered by fabric.  In “Embrace” Boxi hides the identity of the couple even further by portraying them in the same hazardous materials suit and mask of the other figures.  Their identity, gender, and age are completely disguised as they take shelter in each other’s arms while in the background the grey landscape threatens their tenuous union.  While Magritte’s painting could easily be interpreted as a visual depiction of love being blind, Boxi’s painting here cannot be as easily pinned down. 

Viewing this body of work one can’t help but to be reminded of the photographs of the 1950’s cold war era and the looming threat of the atomic bomb.  The grey tones of the paintings create a sense of history for the viewer, linking these iconic paintings to past events, collective memories, and also to our current time. Considering the events of our own recent history, the systematic failure of global economies and the ever-present threat of terrorism we can easily resonate with the themes of paranoia and insecurity that are evident in these paintings.  Black and white photographs have served the historical function of documentation and their influence is evident in Boxi’s work here.

In “Buffer” (2009) and “Happy With What You Got” (2009) we see a glimpse of humor and irony as well, which disrupts the overall theme of insecurity.  “Buffer” (2009) is especially witty.  We see the back of a man, a worker who is painting an outdoor wall in order to erase the graffiti left behind by a culprit.  It almost appears as if this man is trying to paint over the artist’s own work.  Boxi has chosen to paint the scene of a cover up, a painting about painting, using the same material as the absent tagger in the scene - spray paint.  This subtle play on the subject presents us with an ironic situation and makes us take a second look at the painting.

In addition to these powerful paintings we are also presented with two pieces of a more conceptual nature, “Ladder Piece” (2009) and “Sell Out Is The New Buy In” (2009).  “Ladder Piece” (2009) is an installation of a wooden ladder that is propped up against one of the gallery walls, in between the paintings.  It presumably leads to nowhere and does not serve a function but just when we are about to question its existence in the exhibition we notice all the tiny holes drilled into the steps.  Each imaginary step on this ladder would lead to disaster, as the structure of the fragile steps could easily collapse under the weight of the daring user.  In this way the ladder has been transformed from a functional tool into a dangerous trap, reflecting the underlying themes of instability that run in the exhibition. 

“Grey Area” is a clever presentation of paintings and conceptual pieces that reflect the depth of Boxi’s art practice.  His choices of grey palette, gestural marks, and portrayals of subjects leave open a wide space for the viewer’s imagination to roam.  There is a strange familiarity with these images.  We have seen these figures before, perhaps in our movies and television shows or maybe in our dreams.  We can relate to these mysterious subjects.  The influences of photography and graffiti makes this work accessible to us while the beauty of the surrealistic background draws us further in, creating a narrative that is unique to each individual viewer.  What is the fate of the subjects portrayed here?  More importantly, what will happen to us during this uncertain time in our history?