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Gitana Rosa Gallery (19 Hope St. Bklyn)
February 26 - April 3, 2010
"Bride & Groom", 30x36"
Gitana Rosa Gallery is pleased to present The Absurd Life: Paintings by John Plunkett. Neon, psychadelic, mechanized, comical, and melancholy; John Plunkett's work at once relates and transports us into the absurdity of our contemporary lives.
A Vietnam War veteran, drafted at 19, John Plunkett returned to the Northeast coast during the Summer of Love 1969. These paintings, never before exhibited, could be interpreted as the artists reaction towards reintegration into society and the turbulent forces at work in the late '70s and early '80s. Still poignant today, their message relates to our current evaluation of our social hierarchies, govenment, virtual and mechanized systems. John PlunkettÃs work draws correlation with early 20th Century Surrealist Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico and his reaction to the first world war, mechanization and re-arrangement of classes.
As an artists reaction to the massive changes of the period Giorgio de Chirico populated classical architectural spaces with enigmatic, mysterious figurines. Through visual intrigue, historical quotations and mysterious objects, de Chirico's art examined how everyday life was recontextualized in enormous ways. An artistic amalgamation of historical themes, contemporary questions and visual experiences, PlunkettÃs work also makes use of architectural space, intrigue and enigma.
Populated with mechanical figurines in abstract pictorial spaces one feels as if they are peering into a world on display privy only to them. A Pop Surrealist sensibility, infused with classical Renaissance themes, Plunkett's figures relate with the viewer and make us feel oddly connected to their psychedelic landscapes and appropriated situations. We find ourselves strangely at home in their absurd lives.
www.plunkettartstudio.com/paint/paint.html
Opening Reception
Friday, February 26th from 6-9p
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March 4 - March 7, 2010
The Dylan Hotel, 52 East 41st Street
www.Verge.com
May 6 - May 9, 2010
7 W New York (7 West 34th St, near 5th Ave, NYC)
www.aafnyc.com
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