The Art of Omission
Andre Barker and Oshun Williams in their Studios.
When creating a painting one of the most important decisions an artist makes is deciding where our attention should rest and what is allowed to disappear. For me, this means that sometimes what is omitted from an image becomes just as important as what remains.
Andre Barker’s Studio
For Artsy's Foundations Online Fair next month, we'll be presenting new work by Andre Barker and Oshun Williams. I've had the opportunity to spend time with both artists recently, and each of them are in an incredibly productive moment in their practice. In light of this, I wanted to give insight into this pairing and how I think what these artists don't say speaks volumes.
Andre Barker: Detail of “They Reminisce Over You”
Andre Barker often builds his paintings around one or more figures, allowing portions of the surrounding environment to dissolve into loose line work or empty space. A street corner is only partially described. An interior is suggested rather than completed. Even when the figures are rendered with total specificity, the world around them remains open, almost unfinished.
Andre Barker: “They Reminisce Over You”
Oshun Williams approaches omission differently. His newest paintings have become quieter and more intimate. This selection of work is smaller in scale and almost function as studies for larger paintings. Resulting in smaller compositions with only brief details. Faces are sometimes left unresolved, figures turn away from us and details dissolve into open canvas. Williams reduces narrative to its essentials, leaving only gestures and fragments that allow the viewer to fill in the blanks and project their own memories onto the familiar scenes in front of them. Adding their own emotional weight.
Oshun Williams “ Blueprint”
Like a memory these paintings deny the viewer perfect clarity. We don't remember every face in a family photograph or every detail of a summer barbecue. What remains are fragments: the way someone stood, the music that was playing, the feeling of safety that family and familiarity can provide. That is what both artists seem to understand so well.
Oshun Williams “Hilltop”
What is left unsaid can communicate as fully as any description.
Andre Barker: “Close Up: Young, Black….Professor?”
If you'd like to hear more about the ideas behind Oshun's practice, I hope you'll join us for an artist talk on Thursday, July 23rd from 6 - 8 PM, where he'll discuss his new paintings and his approach to memory and storytelling.
205 E. 9 Mile Road, Ferndale
I hope to see you there!
