LASERS IN THE JUNGLE

ERIC GIBBONS & NATHAN GREEN

SEP 1 – OCT 6, 2007

War, the diamond trade, killer bees, traffic jams, global warming, killer asteroids, pandemics, cancer, violent crime, religious fanaticism, poverty, tsunamis, governmental corruption, genital herpes, bird flu, identity theft, torture. Nathan Green’s work strives for an absurdity equal to that which is reflected in the above list, but in the opposite direction. His is a search for the ecstatic, where vivid visions of unrealistic and impossible situations present a world overflowing with delight and glee, almost to a burden. Where Green’s paintings use a lexicon that includes children’s drawings, nature, drug culture and utopian architecture, Eric Gibbon’s has chosen to focus on one figure whose oeuvre is defined by earnestness and seeming effortless ponderings on love, betrayal, desire, aging and God: Paul Simon. Gibbon’s portraits of Simon function as a means to process the poetry and beauty of the songwriter’s music. Green’s and Gibbon’s worlds sometimes converge thematically, and at other times stylistically, but both worlds always profess a steady devotion to the idea of miracle and wonder. The title of this two-person exhibition, “Lasers in the Jungle”, at Art Palace is taken from Simon’s lyrics to the song Boy in a Bubble.

NATHAN GREEN

ERIC GIBBONS

POSTED: AUGUST 21, 2007