John Seal is a Los Angeles-based artist, whose solo exhibition "I Upon My Frontiers Here Keep My Residence" is on view at Gavin Brown Enterprise in the Bowery district. There are a series of works where the outline of a jacket is invaded by his flowery images. This kind of cartoon frame reflects Seal’s childhood when he was raised by television icons such as gilligan and he-man. However, the content of images shows me a great sense of impressionism.
Many of Seals paintings depict still-lifes with floral patterns, which reminds me of a19th-century art expression: impressionism. Although color is formless, it can be squeezed into a specific object. Seal uses George Seurat's The Models twice as the background’s complement. It is worth mentioning …show more content…
For example, a painting’s name Adam in the First Hours of the Garden Before is referred to the Christian story of Adam and Eve. In fact, the title of this exhibition I Upon My Frontiers Here Keep My Residence is borrowed from the book Paradise Lost, which is an epic poem by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The book also appears in the paintings Almost Flesh, Almost Love, Almost Laughter, where the sculpture of two lovers is placed with a copy of Paradise Lost and a print of George Seurat's The Models. It seems that this painting is paralleled with the work Looking Out From the Other Side of Drawn since they have the same composition, color as well as the book Paradise Lost. The only difference is that the figurine of the two lovers in Almost Flesh, Almost Love, Almost Laughter is replaced with colorful brush strokes, which similar to a bouquet of flowers. As mentioned above, impressionism has a great impact on Seal, so I would explain that this arrangement is a kind of an experiment for him to apply the impressionistic form of expression in his
Many of Seals paintings depict still-lifes with floral patterns, which reminds me of a19th-century art expression: impressionism. Although color is formless, it can be squeezed into a specific object. Seal uses George Seurat's The Models twice as the background’s complement. It is worth mentioning …show more content…
For example, a painting’s name Adam in the First Hours of the Garden Before is referred to the Christian story of Adam and Eve. In fact, the title of this exhibition I Upon My Frontiers Here Keep My Residence is borrowed from the book Paradise Lost, which is an epic poem by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The book also appears in the paintings Almost Flesh, Almost Love, Almost Laughter, where the sculpture of two lovers is placed with a copy of Paradise Lost and a print of George Seurat's The Models. It seems that this painting is paralleled with the work Looking Out From the Other Side of Drawn since they have the same composition, color as well as the book Paradise Lost. The only difference is that the figurine of the two lovers in Almost Flesh, Almost Love, Almost Laughter is replaced with colorful brush strokes, which similar to a bouquet of flowers. As mentioned above, impressionism has a great impact on Seal, so I would explain that this arrangement is a kind of an experiment for him to apply the impressionistic form of expression in his