MARCH 5-8, 2015

PIER 90

WEST 50th STREET @ 12th AVENUE

NEW YORK

BOOTH C22

 

Eric Mistretta‘s work utilizes elements of language and popular cultural imagery in compositions that are at once familiar but exist in manipulated, unexpected contexts. Through this process of re-contextualization, identifiable images are infused with a new sensibility, and the resulting hybrids elicit both feelings of familiarity and a sense of absurdity.

In works such as Ninety Poems by Robert Frost, Mistretta’s homage to the twentieth century author who tirelessly avoided innovation by relying on traditional forms of nineteenth century poetry, the artist depicts the non-existent title of Frost’s imagined volume in the style of a 1990’s Newport cigarette advertisement. These ads are most remembered for conveying a heavily manufactured sense of excitement and enthusiasm, which culminated in the “Alive with pleasure!” campaign. InNinety Poems by Robert Frost, Mistretta deploys Newport’s advertising strategy to instill the painting with a sentiment deliberately at odds with Frost’s sobering, rural poetry.

In one of the artist’s new series of paintings for VOLTA NY 2015, Mistretta explores his interest in floral-printed textiles, using them as visually rich backdrops for additional painted imagery. The patterned, cotton fabrics strike a dynamic note of depicting something natural through highly synthetic means. Their associations, which range from fashion to bedding to decoration, all serve as catalysts for further transformation through the incorporation of additional content.

Image:

Eric Mistretta, Fiend Club (Purgatory), 2015, Oil pastel and wax crayon on printed cotton over canvas, 60 x 48 in.