'Dead Heat' - New work by Paul Perkins September 8th - October 6th, 2012
Unemployment, gun violence, foreclosure, geopolitical posturing, American Exceptionalism, the promise and relentless pursuit of wealth and the broken promise of The American Dream; these are just a few of the topics bubbling under the surface of the objects that Paul Perkins makes.
Using the language of painting and tapping liberally the history of high art, Paul produces things that address these adult themes at a time when artists have largely turned their backs on such subject matter, preferring instead to make art about art, make art about art making and the celebrity or foolishness of the art world or just make decorative fluff.
Paul's unabashed objects assert their place in that history without shying away from some of the most serious issues of our times and they do so with a sense of humor that almost feels wrong. We should not be laughing but we are. The objects themselves have a perverse quality to them: they are objects speaking the language of painting, high art objects made from craft materials and, simultaneously, children's toys referencing the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. As a result, just like the times we live in, we are kept off balance, looking for an answer, waiting for the cooling rains ....
