I Might Take A Chainsaw To My Waterlilies (2023)
Oil and leaves on canvas, inkjet on paper
77 x 58 x 1.5 inches
Images courtesy the artist
Debuting in the group show Island Letter at CC Projects gallery in New York June 14-July 9, I Might Take A Chainsaw to My Waterlilies follows a series of oil paintings Shirt has made that have been chainsawed in half and constructed to be part inkjet print. In this case a bush in nature was photographed by Shirt in 2020––with the photograph later being painted by Shirt during his residency at Abrons Art Center in 2023. The work installed at the show is constructed of the left side of the painted canvas work, and the right side (32) individual 8.5 x 11 inch inkjet prints of the photograph. The iteration of the work that consists of the right side of the canvas work (not pictured or installed) and left side of print-outs exists as well.
A description of the work in the exhibition guide read as follows:
I Might Take A Chainsaw To My Waterlilies is the pointillistic representation of one image of a bush of blue flowers in two distinct halves: one part oil on canvas and another part photographic print-outs. The stretched canvas has been severed by a chainsaw and the prints have been tiled together on the wall. Referencing Claude Monet's waterlily paintings, the title of the piece both acknowledges and rejects the canonical significance of the medium in European art history. The split image further draws attention to processes of translation, emphasizing the friction between distinct modes of representation and where they meet in the middle.
More photos available upon request
Oil and leaves on canvas, inkjet on paper
77 x 58 x 1.5 inches
Images courtesy the artist
Debuting in the group show Island Letter at CC Projects gallery in New York June 14-July 9, I Might Take A Chainsaw to My Waterlilies follows a series of oil paintings Shirt has made that have been chainsawed in half and constructed to be part inkjet print. In this case a bush in nature was photographed by Shirt in 2020––with the photograph later being painted by Shirt during his residency at Abrons Art Center in 2023. The work installed at the show is constructed of the left side of the painted canvas work, and the right side (32) individual 8.5 x 11 inch inkjet prints of the photograph. The iteration of the work that consists of the right side of the canvas work (not pictured or installed) and left side of print-outs exists as well.
A description of the work in the exhibition guide read as follows:
I Might Take A Chainsaw To My Waterlilies is the pointillistic representation of one image of a bush of blue flowers in two distinct halves: one part oil on canvas and another part photographic print-outs. The stretched canvas has been severed by a chainsaw and the prints have been tiled together on the wall. Referencing Claude Monet's waterlily paintings, the title of the piece both acknowledges and rejects the canonical significance of the medium in European art history. The split image further draws attention to processes of translation, emphasizing the friction between distinct modes of representation and where they meet in the middle.
More photos available upon request