Murphy, Tuymans, Bunnys

I became familiar with Ciaran Murphy's paintings through an Artkrush posting on his solo show at Kavi Gupta gallery in Chicago. The posting led to a discussion on young painters' obsession over Luc Tuymans and his influence. Murphy's paintings elicit the same response as Tuyman's work-I am at the same time intrigued and annoyed with them, and this bothers me.

From Jordan Kantor's article on Tuymans:
"The idea that painting was somehow bound to fail--a presupposition that finds formal expression in the now-prevalent "deskilled" aesthetic--is also worked through in deeper conceptual terms in the canvases of Tuymans and those in his wake. That is, beyond using technique to thematize failure, these artists set tasks and projects for themselves that seem doomed from the beginning."

First off, I love much of Tuymans work, I think it's free spirited and majestic--

Some times it makes me go Meh in frustration, perhaps because it's "bound to fail".

Why? I think about painting a lot (the act and the history of)--and I force myself to think about it in the simplest terms possible. I think about it's cop-outs, it's complex simplicity, its self involvement. Why do I find this aesthetic annoying and pretty great at the same time?

It is made most apparent with Tuymans-- the push and pull tension of the painterly impression and the upfrontness of his cheeky "deskilled" technique, where anything goes, really. But I wonder if this type of thing is evocative for its novelty at the time (late 70's/80's-quiet figure painting not so big) or for it's stripped down aesthetic today (2000's--awesome Neon Hippy Art! ) or for the fact that it's in the camp of high art looking like naive-not-giving-a-fook .

I'm no curator, my craft at turning a phrase isn't model doctorate to be sure. But working through my misgivings as a painter leads me down a sticky road. I mean, I've actually said to myself looking at some of these "Ef, from far away that's pretty emotional, but, umm, is that it? That's it?!?"

At this point I just shut down and ask why/how/huh?, and why can't I bring myself do do this sort of thing, this effortless work, this koan of a painting, this little thing that is so hard and so meaningless.

I mean, how's about sticking some painting in there---or a bunny. Anything with a bunny is good, right?
xoxoxox