Michael Wayne "Brushed by Jesus Christ" at AnArte Gallery exhibition review
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Michael Wayne
AnArte Gallery
“Brushed by Jesus
Christ”
May 13, 2015 – June 6, 2015
AnArte Gallery and Studio
7959 Broadway, No. 404
San Antonio, Texas 78209
Michael Wayne’s exhibition, “Brushed by Jesus Christ” is a
series of paintings that range from several highly charged underpaintings to
overly stimulated and muddy abstractions.
Wayne has a few hits in this series that walk the line of the best of
both worlds. With the introduction of
stencil letters and numbers in his signature dense textures, Wayne gives a
context to his dyslexic disorder; while owning his condition with an “I don’t
care” attitude, explaining that the viewer will still be able to read the text
on the paintings although the letters are flipped, reversed or upside-down. Although
“Brushed by Jesus Christ” has the typical Christian overtones associated with
Wayne’s deep religious affiliations, but the visual attributes and devout
presence in his work are minimal. The titles of these paintings elude more to the
biblical passages coupled with Wayne’s own understanding and hinted interpretations
of the Word of God.
“Brushed by Jesus Christ” as a title of his exhibition is
also a play on words. Is it the artist who has been brushed by Jesus, in passing
where two shoulders rub? Or, has Wayne
has been touched by God and is now the divine artistic vehicle by which his
audience is exposed to the teachings of Christ? It could be Wayne who has
accepted Jesus as his savior channels the divinity, allowing Christ to enter
his body and paint the artwork, God and Wayne have become one; allowing God to
paint through Wayne’s brush. Metaphorically, is it us, the audience who is now
being brushed by Jesus Christ by pure affiliations with Michael Wayne and
seeing his paintings. Only Michael Wayne knows.
Yes, there are still subdued crosses, abstract birds, nests,
heavenly auras and poetic passages, but overall the exhibition can stand on its
own as technical executions of Abstract Expressionism.
Overall, there seems to be three major visual aesthetics in
“Brushed by Jesus Christ.” First are the under-paintings that reveal process and
are considered finished because of pure pictorial integrity, the bearing of
naked self. Next are the few spotlight
paintings that have everything going for them from wispy lines and contours,
silhouettes, lettering and composition; to the overworked painting that were
taken to the edge of painterly perfection and lost due to too many colors
processes and over-mixing. We see the
gouged lines, the sweeping brush stroke, the intuitive gestures, and overall
compositions; components and foundational elements of any abstract work.
Wayne’s preference to
create the artwork from the back of the silk canvas first and push the paint
through the weave to the front is in itself explosive;
a mashing of materials with brunt force, smashing bristles through the fabric;
forcing a penetration of color to the other side. Wayne will then proceed to
flip the canvas and paint on the front to highlight areas by pushing and pulling
the parts he prefers - working in color on top of color, creating windows to
the various layers below. However, in
three of the paintings, the underpainting is the final product. Wayne refers to
it as showing himself without his makeup, without the wigs and jewelry. His artistic moniker for swirling lines and
water drop silhouettes are evident in a majority of the exhibition, and there
are a few spotlight paintings that have these areas fully worked out. Compositionally,
the Wayne “swirls” ground the eye, giving us a path to explore the crevices,
the textures and lettering. This overall compositional and visual aesthetic
balance and visual grounding is something that the overworked ones lack.
The largest painting in the show, “The King Will Come With The Sound Of A Blast But It Won’t Last But
Just A Second” demands attention but lacks content to hold our
attention. Wayne throws all he has into
this painting with thick impasto stencil lettering, multi-layered composition
and pockets of activity, but there is too much to take in and one has to step
closer to digest the details, enveloped by the swirling white lines, one
struggles for a place to rest the eye. While
“All Things Are Possible Through Jesus Christ” is a blatant disclosure of
Wayne’s spiritual preferences, with words that spell out just what the title
says. We do not have to interpret his abstractions to understand his position,
allowing nothing to chance. Green for earth and the watery blue highlights for
the world mixed with the gold letters for divinity.
Two paintings stand out as showcase pieces for the
exhibition. Poetically, “This Has
Happened All Before One After One Even If It’s A Garden Your Salad Or Your Soul
It Builds Up In Time”, has the most lyrical passage of all the paintings
with a great composition and subliminal religious efforts. The background text is a poem that Wayne chose
to honor for more of an inside joke than Christian reference. At the Absolute
Art Gallery in Brugge, Belgium, Wayne reminisced about walking right into the
exiting glass doors, smashing his nose. From his personal testimony, blood
spewed everywhere and he joked he looked like a Picasso painting. The poem was
on the wall of the gallery as a panoramic text across the whole interior space.
He wanted to pay tribute to that moment.
Aside for the poem, three crosses of the trinity are made up repeating
letters going down the right column of the painting. The color combination is
spot on with hits of foreground and background with strong compositional
elements that bring the painting together in wonderfully artistic gestalt.
The other surprise spotlight for the exhibition is a
painting titled, “At This Pow-Wow You
Don’t Get Burned You Don’t Have To Pay Just Sit Back Because It’s All Free.” Measuring
in at 48” x 68”, this larger fine art
beauty eludes to what Michael Wayne describes as the ascension to Heaven with
the congregation meeting to accept the path of godly divination, while the
burning fires of Hell will scorn you for eternity if you do not accept the free
forgiveness of sins afforded to all of us with the accepting of blind
faith. Now, let’s artistically decode this hellfire scare. “At This Pow-Wow….” , the red fire and
burning embers are located at the lower left of this painting, while the center is a calm white glow of purity; a cross radiating from the center is
suggested by a vertical sweeping angle of green undertones and intersected by
almost black and white horizontal compositional elements. Absent of the
bordered compartments Wayne likes to create.
“Pow-Wow…” is a successful abstract painting bringing a rare
glimpse of technique to process without the sought after bells and whistles of his
signature aesthetic; making for a refreshing pause in a very stimulating
exhibition.
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