John Slepian: the Phenomenology of Painting May 8, 2010

John Slepian's new body of work, 'the phenomenology of painting,' is an expansion of his previous explorations. Whereas earlier work investigated empathy and the way we form emotional connections to the objects around us, this new work more widely considers the mysteries of physical presence and the way that complex meaning can be created through motion and abstract form. The title of the exhibition is a reference to a philosophical movement that attempts to objectively study topics normally considered subjective, such as the experience of perception. Using video projection mapped onto flat canvases, Slepian seamlessly recreates images of paintings that exemplify modernism, only to then break the tightly held modernist tenants that these works embody--that the arts should tend toward using their most indispensable components and that an ideal artwork should stand outside of both time and space.