Art Review
ALTERED SPACE
by Gerard Yunker
Cube Gallery
Runs until November 30
Altered Space, Gerard Yunker’s exhibition at Cube Gallery, is typical of what Cube stands for – stretching the medium of photography in an innovative way.
Yunker manipulates photographs using the Photoshop computer program to create large multi-image works. In order to disrupt a simple viewing of simple objects (mainly flowers, clouds, flames and water) he has cut and flipped images to create a field of kaleidoscopic forms.
It’s like contemplating a group of Rorschach tests – the viewer can’t help but engage in a guessing game as to what the original material might have looked like, which is not always obvious. Clues could have been provided by the titles, but these are also ambiguous, like Darcy’s Party, Lisa’s Gift or Tom’s Cabin.
Yunker’s artist statement outlines his desire to immerse the viewer in the deeper meaning of his images. His project is similar to that of the early cubists, whose work also resembled, according to one critic, a field of broken glass. Artists like Picasso and Braque broke natural forms into angular wedges or facets in an attempt to analyze, abstract and better portray the essence of their subjects. Yunker aims to do the same, to move the viewer one step away from simple observation in order to see more clearly.
While the initial surprise element for the viewer may match that of the cubists’ first audiences, Yunker’s achievement of his stated goal seems more elusive.
Viewers might easily be impressed with the slick surface quality of this work and the complexity of the compositions. What is less obvious is its purpose of portraying the essential substance of the photographed elements.
In the end, Yunker’s work comes across more as eye candy than as an invitation to the sort of meditative exercise he might intend. |
