 |
| "Ariadne’s Thread" 95 x 80 cm Oil stick and acrylic paint on wood 2010 The work is an approximate copy of a drawing made by a young girl in an orphanage, post WWII, as captured in the photo by Magnum photographer David Seymour. The drawing was her representation of “home”. |
 |
| "New Media" (from a series of 12) 60 x 43 cm each Ink wash and oil pastel on paper 2010 |
Many of the works involve some kind of rigid and unbending structure that is confronted with an expressive gesture; the conventional structures that surround us in our everyday lives encounter a seemingly intuitive, free phenomenon. The works appear as a series of questions posed in a repetitive and almost manic way in an attempt to unite these conflicting idioms. Traditionally, the expressive gesture has been perceived as a liberating reaction to a constricted form. In Freuchen’s works, the 'free line” appears equally constrained and obsessive as the controlled, geometric structures – bridging the brush stroke with the Nike swoosh."
I made this map in college in response to an assignment, and it marks the beginning of my work with maps. Using a blade, I took apart a paper map, moving pieces over to a large piece of paper which I watercolored the same blue as the ocean in the original map. Gradually, the world was reconfigured. I often reconstructed words using presstype in places where the names of countries had gotten truncated. There were switches based on historical or geopological factors (Western Europe inserted into West Africa); others were based on formal correspondences or quirks of the map itself. Australia and Alaska had the same green border color, for example, and fit perfectly together due to the distortion of scale that occurs towards the poles.I love this one- what's the Midwest good for anyway? Just kidding, I'm an Oklahoman, after all...
De Balincourt’s Crayola-by-way-of-Vegas palette (created by taping off sections, spray-painting or stencilling, scraping and scratching) flaunt protean surfaces, highlighting a mastery of colour and shape. He thrives on detail, embedding his compositions with partially obscured figures and objects, the game-board proportions evocative of Lego and electric train sets.She ends with a bit of a scathing criticism of the artist's stated purpose:
Simply making reference to survival, or showing ‘us’ and ‘them’ as a questionable construct, is hardly startling. Such repeated literalness keeps De Balincourt’s work bobbing well above the sinister depths he seeks to plumb. The question as to whether his ideas will catch up with his sophisticated process remains open.
De Balincourt uses American maps reinvented for his own comical New World Order. States are represented by bright planes of color but without any real context. His maps have political intention and commentary. Some of the maps act as graphs for imaginary data of financial and political party affiliation. In the end, his visual sense is perfect. His color palette and compositions add to his story.
