Scape
Brandon Anschultz
January 25, 2005 - June 5, 2005
The genesis of this show stems from my continued interest in landscape painting. Originally conceived as a reaction to the Hudson River School painters and their optimistic, fantastical paintings of the American landscape that offered unlimited promise and opportunity; this body of work takes a subtle look at how that notion has continued with the current promise of the American dream and with a seemingly expansionist government. With the current politically divided landscape, I decided to play down the atmosphere of division and play up similarities within the American people. We are all exclusive and inclusive, influencing and influenced. The main foci of this show are a drawing and a video. The third component is a survey of landscape paintings I have produced in the last 10 years, mostly images of rural America (where I grew up) but also including works that depict cities, human activity, and the encroaching information age.
City in a Bubble, is a drawing that includes a sampling of American urban life, drawings of skyscrapers from major American cities (with two glaring omissions· standing side by side in a line-up. The title has a double reference for me, it stems from the imaginary cities I drew as a child and from our country's xenophobic reaction after the terrorist events at the beginning of this century.
The video Red/Green America is mostly images of rural southern and Midwest landscapes. These unpopulated vistas are interrupted by appearing and disappearing patterns and blocks of color. These patterns and colors are indicators of other activities going on in these quiet scenes, information being transferred, signals being given, communications.
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