Scrutinearsighted

October 5 – October 28, 2018

Informed by the incomprehensibility of the US Presidential election and what ultimately became the UK’s “Brexit” referendum, Scrutinearsighted combines the notion of the “scrutineer,” an official appointed to ensure that various competitions’ rules and regulations are met by their combatants, with the condition of “nearsightedness” or myopia where the eye can focus upon nearby subjects but blurs when greater distances are observed.  The adjacently installed works form an unstable and unpredictable continuum where the imagery seems to spill from surface to surface before abruptly shifting tone and direction as it offers divergent and dissenting perspectives. Resembling a corrupted tableau, a tattered scroll or a violently undulating graph, the installation wraps around the space, enveloping the viewer and situating them within an unfolding incident. The installation’s unpredictable mix of drawing, painting and textual components provides audiences with a complex and condensed view of this contemporary predicament. The imagery’s palette (a black, white and grey tonal range) is used to invoke both the extremes of opinion and action and all the ambiguous and ambivalent compromises and equivocations that are part of contemporary life. This installation format offers its audience a paradox echoing the project’s title—the details of various struggles are visible up-close but obscured as one tries to view the series’ full breadth.