Philip Slein Gallery: Friday, 25 September 2009
Ominous Beauty as the Philip Slein Gallery Becomes a Den of Secrets
Friday, September 25th 2009, Reception 6-9pm
Hours Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm; runs through October 31st
Ever since the branch of philosophy known as aesthetics emerged in England at the beginning of the 18th century, theorists have expounded upon aspects of beauty such as the Novel and the Strange. Critics have traced these aspects through movements such as Romanticism, Symbolism, Surrealism, and Lowbrow. Fred Stonehouse, well-known lowbrow painter and purveyor of the Beautiful, the Novel, and the Strange, turns his attention inward. In his new show of paintings and works on paper at the Philip Slein Gallery, Den of Secrets, he exposes the themes of familial memory and myth, disjunctive narrative, images of otherness and the imaginary portrait. Within his own extended family, long-held secrets, hazy half-truths, superstitious prejudices and exaggerated attributes are what passes for family history. He is interested in how families try to bury unpleasant aspects of their history, but by their secrecy inadvertently create speculation and hyperbole which are the hallmark and genesis of myth. This process creates a sort of meta-morphosis that begins in history and results in what is essentially a construct of the collective imagination.
Fred's influences are lowbrow, outsider art, folk art (especially of the Mexican variety) vintage signage, circus sideshow banners, religious iconography, and Northern Renaissance painting, to name a few.
The Philip Slein Gallery
Friday, September 25th 2009, Reception 6-9pm
Hours Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm; runs through October 31st
Ever since the branch of philosophy known as aesthetics emerged in England at the beginning of the 18th century, theorists have expounded upon aspects of beauty such as the Novel and the Strange. Critics have traced these aspects through movements such as Romanticism, Symbolism, Surrealism, and Lowbrow. Fred Stonehouse, well-known lowbrow painter and purveyor of the Beautiful, the Novel, and the Strange, turns his attention inward. In his new show of paintings and works on paper at the Philip Slein Gallery, Den of Secrets, he exposes the themes of familial memory and myth, disjunctive narrative, images of otherness and the imaginary portrait. Within his own extended family, long-held secrets, hazy half-truths, superstitious prejudices and exaggerated attributes are what passes for family history. He is interested in how families try to bury unpleasant aspects of their history, but by their secrecy inadvertently create speculation and hyperbole which are the hallmark and genesis of myth. This process creates a sort of meta-morphosis that begins in history and results in what is essentially a construct of the collective imagination.
Fred's influences are lowbrow, outsider art, folk art (especially of the Mexican variety) vintage signage, circus sideshow banners, religious iconography, and Northern Renaissance painting, to name a few.
The Philip Slein Gallery
314.621.4634
1319 Washington Ave. Downtown St. Louis
1319 Washington Ave. Downtown St. Louis
posted by Bill Barrett at 12:48 PM
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