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20/2/2003

David Hutchinson

Jack the Pelican, New York

Translations of Jean Genet
Paintings, sculptures and drawings

Jack the Pelican Presents is proud to present the paintings, sculptures and drawings of David Hutchinson.

David Hutchinson's slim vertical stripes of pure color are unexpectedly, beautifully abuzz with retinal vibration. But his combinations are insistently peculiar. As though he were attempting a signature plunge into some uncharted terrain of taste. (See attached.) -Indeed! these are translations of the works of the great sinner/genius Jean Genet.

A thief and traitor who spent much of his early life behind bars, Genet was a cause celebré for such literary and cultural giants of pre- and post-war France as Sartre and Giacometti. His crystal-palace prose make gorgeous and erotic the slippery divide between brute violence and vulnerability. And one cannot help but be fundamentally, transcendentally stunned.

For Hutchinson, Genet is the perfect vehicle to probe the tensions between ethics and aesthetics. That the names of his characters, titles and fragments translate into color sequences of such astounding visual coherence may be a mystery. But to read these paintings, all one need know/guess is the first letter of each color's name. It is a playful, A-is-for-apple conceit, tantalizingly accessible, yet elusive. Still, the pleasure may reside less in reading than in seeing the passage bloom into sight.

Hutchinson evinces further delight in the texture of language with his diptych format. -On top is the English translation. On bottom, the French original. Between them are visual rhyme and difference...a chasm of fascination. This structure takes as its point of departure Jacques Derrida's Glas, which counterpoises side-by-side commentaries on Genet and Hegel.

The theoretical foundation of Hutchinson's project owes much to late 20th century post-structural thought. His strategy, however, stands in marked contrast to the cynicism of much theory-driven work of the '80s and '90s. He writes, "The over-arching idea is dual: a)pushing formalism's tendency to aestheticize sexuality and violence to such an extent that the content is purged of moral baseness; and, b)pushing the word/image dilemma into the arena of non-verbal communication (the original locus of baser instincts)...The historic force of formalism is brought to the fore to enact its dramatic leveling capacity."

--No mere words. The syncopated rhymes of Hutchinson's color sequences and the taut discipline of his craft and method sustain a prolonged visual engagement. The strong undertow of romantic passions is palpably mute. -Ethical judgement, deferred.

Hutchinson began his investigations into theories of language and translation as a doctoral candidate in philosophy at The Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research, where he had the privilege to attend Derrida's lectures. Originally intent on a career as a critical theorist, he soon found himself directly involved in artmaking.

David Hutchinson has exhibited in Europe and Houston, Texas, where he is represented by the Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery. His work is in the collections of the De Menil, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Spencer Collection at the New York Public Library. Upcoming shows include a solo exhibition at the Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery later this spring and Word/Image, Works on Paper, an exhibition of important 20th-century conceptual art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Translations of Jean Genet is his New York debut.

Opening: Friday, February 21, 7-9pm

Gallery hours: Friday-Monday, 12-6

For more information, call 718-782-0183 or visit the website

Image: Like Michelangelo, I've Carved My Life Away, acrylic on canvas, 2002.

Jack the Pelican Presents
487 Driggs Avenue, between N. 9th and 10th
Bedford stop on the L train.
Williamsburg, Brookl

stampa

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