Christian Rex van Minnen
The American artist describes this series of works as an attempt to create a conceptual and emotional link between the various layers of oil paint, imbuing them with meaning, as his creative process combines a meticulous glazing technique with an organic, surreal development of pictorial forms, in an approach almost reminiscent of automatism.
The glazes, made with modern pigments of hypersaturated colors, act as skin, representing a sensation in opposition to that of the compositional structure. Layers of flattened narratives and histories are overlaid and covered with tattoos and tags, images drawn from contemporary visual culture, modern myths, and pop archetypes. Quinacridone is an example of a synthetic, artificial, chemical, acidic, fluorescent, digital, and ultra-modern pigment, with an uncouth and intense potency, that contrasts with the equilibrium underlying it.
In the paintings he has produced for this exhibition he pays homage to Goya and Manet in dialogue with Meléndez—the Nude Maja and Olympia merge with still lifes in front of landscapes—and we find an adaptation of Ribalta’s Christ embracing Saint Bernard, which is at the Prado Museum, or a Saint Sebastian which could have been inspired by the pose of Guido Reni’s, as well as references to the work of Rembrandt and other old masters in his monotypes. In addition to recognizing the influence of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Pieter Aertsen, the Venetian School, and Caravaggio, if we move to the present, among his more current references van Minnen includes Kenny Scharf, Erik Parker, Tomoo Gokita, and Ryan Travis Christian.
La Maja y Melendez, 2021
Oil on canvas
122 x 183 x 5 cm / 48 x 72 x 2 in
Gospel of Mary, 2021
Oil on canvas
122 x 91,5 x 4 cm / 48 x 36 x 1.5 in
Frago Froggo, 2021
Oil on canvas
122 x 91,5 x 4 cm / 48 x 36 x 1.5 in
Warrior, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 122 x 5 cm / 72 x 48 x 2 in
Hot Hot Sun, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 122 x 5 cm / 72 x 48 x 2 in
Menko Cannibal, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 122 x 4 cm / 72 x 48 x 1.5 in
Mob, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 122 x 5 cm / 72 x 48 x 2 in
Thin Skin St Sebastien, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 132 x 4 cm / 72 x 52 x 1.5 in
Western Honey Man's Mystical Portal to Apeshit Insanity Full Send, 2020
Ink on paper, monotype
142 x 355 cm / 56 x 140 in
154 x 383 cm / 60.62 x 150.78 in (framed)
Back to the Well, 2021
Ink on paper, monotype
142 x 101,5 cm / 56 x 40 in
152 x 112 cm / 65.84 x 44 in (framed)
Clown Clay, 2020
Oil on panel
51 x 41 x 4 cm / 20 x 16 x 1.5 in
The Browakening, 2020
Oil on panel
51 x 41 x 4 cm / 20 x 16 x 1.5 in
Fearful Symmetry, 2020
Oil on panel
51 x 41 x 4 cm / 20 x 16 x 1.5 in
Lamentation, 2020
Oil on canvas
51 x 41 x 4 cm / 20 x 16 x 1.5 in
Illuminati Dogface, 2019
Ink on paper, monotype
56 x 38 cm / 22 x 15 in
67 x 48 cm / 26.37 x 18.89 in (framed)
Thin Skin Savior, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 132 x 4 cm / 72 x 52 x 1.5 in
Skin Bone Quinacridone Adrenochrome, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 132 x 4 cm / 72 x 52 x 1.5 in
Shepherd, 2021
Oil on canvas
183 x 132 x 4 cm / 72 x 52 x 1.5 in
Grotto van Mignon, 2021
Ink on paper, monotype
142 x 101,5 cm / 56 x 40 in
152 x 112 cm / 65.84 x 44 in (framed)
Goopy Eyes Framing Gonnard's Figure, 2021
Ink on paper, monotype
71 x 56 cm / 28 x 22 in
81 x 61 cm / 31.88 x 24 in (framed)
Actually Pretty Laid Back, 2021
Ink on paper, monotype
71 x 56 cm / 28 x 22 in
81 x 61 cm / 31.88 x 24 in (framed)
Goya Gainsborough, 2018
Ink on paper, monotype
56 x 38 cm / 22 x 15 in
65,5 x 48 cm / 25.78 x 18.89 in (framed)
Unspeakable, 2021
Ink on paper, monotype
71 x 56 cm / 28 x 22 in
81 x 61 cm / 31.88 x 24 in (framed)
It's All Good, 2021
Ink on paper, monotype
71 x 56 cm / 28 x 22 in
81 x 61 cm / 31.88 x 24 in (framed)
Manet y Melendez, 2021
Oil on canvas
122 x 183 x 5 cm / 48 x 72 x 2 in