Overview by Christopher J. Graham, visitor contributor
Its Getting Darkish, Joey Cocciardi’s present present at The Lodge options twelve explosive work. Their compositions range between obvious firework-inspired bursts to glowing auras from an astral aircraft, main the viewer to a spot of ephemera. Their surfaces are labored over via layers of utilized painted paper and surfaces whittled down, courtesy of an orbital sander. The result’s a rewarding peek into the historical past of the portray’s construction.
FRWK-2203 (courtesy of The Lodge)
The works within the present all have variations on the title FRWK, an abbreviation of the phrase firework. The most important portray within the present, FRWK 2203, options neon colours as they attain via a darkish shroud. It’s comparatively centralized with an abstracted “burst” prominently featured within the work. The most important portray within the present appears to have a textural element in frequent with later Richter Cage work. With commentary, the viewer can see how paint was faraway from the floor and reapplied to others. Within the depths of the void house, there are flecks of white- small illustrations of stars- permitting the work’s darkish house to broaden into the cosmos.
FRWK-2309 (courtesy of The Lodge)
Most of the compositions within the present characteristic single “bursts” of a firework in opposition to a void that shifts as soon as in shade, often within the form of a halo. By portray variations on the identical composition Cocciardi highlights key variations within the work, making slight compositional tweaks really feel like a departure. An instance of that is FRWK 2302 with its celestial burst remodeling into cartoon-stylized stars alongside the outer body of the piece and FRWK 2309. In 2309, Cocciardi wears down the floor simply earlier than they turn into unintelligible. With cautious examination, the viewer can see the echoed compositional framework from 2302.
FRWK-2302 (courtesy of The Lodge)
At instances the bursts within the FRWK resemble issues apart from fireworks. FRWK 2306, encompasses a washy pink, inexperienced and yellow kind that appears to chop in ribbons via a darkened black and merlot-tinged void. The composition suggests palm fronds, so frequent in Los Angeles, they floor Cocciardi in a particular locale. In FRWK 2312, the artist hides faint inexperienced and yellow swirls that resemble patterns created via batik or tie dye in opposition to a cerulean halo.
FRWK-2314 (courtesy of The Lodge)
Welcome is FRWK-2314, with its three-headed burst. The portray jogs my memory of a few of Harold Ancart’s UFO work, with its ascending motion and jagged formal traces. These bursts illuminate the void house that they occupy. Elsewhere within the present, proof of a Spirograph is current, this factor of play comes throughout within the work via the slight resemblance to “scratch and sketch” model kids’s coloring units.
Since a lot of the work within the present are 14 x 11 inches, a way of pictorial scale turns into fairly essential. How the bursts work together with the perimeters of the canvas floor, can point out their supposed sizes. The pictorial shifts in scale, although slight, introduces variation the place formal qualities stay lean.
Cocciardi’s Its Getting Darkish at The Lodge reveals an artist exploring the concepts of working a floor, and materials discount with out being reductive. Flashing coloured varieties in opposition to contrasting void house unifies the compositions to create a cohesive physique of labor. The impact of those work has one thing in frequent with the second after a firework explodes, the odor of gunpowder and the smoke hanging within the air. After the firework present there’s typically a second of awe within the aftermath, spent marveling on the magnificence and technicality of the feats on show, and that is no exception.
Joey Cocciardi Its Getting Darkish, runs from July 22nd to August 12th 2023.