#representationalism

(Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 4.5): "The general form of propositions is: This is how things are." That is the kind of proposition that one repeats to oneself countless times. One thinks that one is tracing the outline of the thing's nature over and over again, and one is merely tracing round the frame through which we look at it.”

A commentary :

If is there a way to defy representationalism?

“Sayang ang bait nya pa naman.”

Why is it that when someone dies he/she will be, instantly, considered as a good and upright man even if, in the contrary he/she has lived his/her life in a naughty and rude way?

Rene Descartes, a philosopher , presented “Representationalism” in his Meditation 2. This idea stated that we have pattern of thoughts. One of the most famous one is that if someone dies, even if he/she had lived his/her life in the contrary, will be considered good. Statements like “Sayang ang bait nya pa naman”, is as normal as breathing, if someone is describing the deceased one. Filipinos are so concerned about themselves. We are being pretentious to everyone to have a perfect projection. People tend to console these who are left behind in their times of bereavement in a way of saying that the deceased one is a good man, that he/she have lived his/her life ideally and he/she is worthy of being alive. Can’t we just be honest, for once? Can’t we get off the cage of norms when it comes to consolling the family of the deceased one? Is there a way to defy representationalism?

Paul Gagner: A Beginner's Guide to Home Lobotomy December 12, 2015 through February 6, 2016 Open Reception: Saturday December 12, 2015 7pm-10pm Closing Reception and Discussion: February 6, 2016 2pm-4pm

Guest Spot @ The REINSTITUTE is pleased to announce the solo exhibition Beginner's Guide to Home Lobotomy, by Brooklyn-based artist Paul Gagner. The exhibition will open on Saturday, December 12, 2015 and will be on view through Saturday February 6, 2016. The Opening Reception will take place on Saturday, December 12, 2015 from 7pm-10pm. The opening will coincide with Guest Spot’s holiday celebration, with a special evening of cocktails and light fare.  The exhibition will also feature the re-release of an interview between Dr. Howard Moseley, M.D. and Paul Gagner that originally appeared in The New Yorker, with forward written by Paul D’Agostino.

Modernism, the great purveyor of abstraction, has been the leading benefactor of framing the context  around representationalism as a mere arbitrary system.  Paul Gagner's paintings illustrate the tension between the modern impetus to abstraction and the resistance to direct representation, while addressing the systematic approach of authoritative critique.  The artist's psyche is culled from many directions,  usually resulting in a path in tandem with either school: representation or abstraction. Gagner’s ability to work between these distinct contradictions is a sign that the justifying rhetoric of modern intentions may have more to do with an authoritative bias against representationalism rather than relational analytics of the works themselves.

Paul Gagner’s exhibition,  A Beginner's Guide to Home Lobotomy, encapsulates the sublime relationship between art and suffering through a whimsical narrative that outlines a fate that is all too common for artists: the self-fulfilling prophecy.  The neurotic persona attributed to artists is revealed through Gagner’s disposition towards his personal estranged relationship with abstraction, which he demonstrates through a psychoanalytic perspective.  Like most artistic personas, heroism has been attributed to some sort of societal ill or conflict.  Gagner’s Dr. Howard Moseley, M.D. book cover paintings reflect the self-help franchise that foreshadowed the rapid decline of the middle class. The series of works serves as satiric analysis for vetting artists and their societal neuroses. While,  Gagner’s relationship with Dr. Moseley can be compared to necromancy, their co-dependency is intertwined beyond an earthly bond, brought together by irony and lunacy. The relationship between art and self-affliction are historic wounds that are expressed in paint,  the magnificent forms resemble the weight of seriousness that percolates behind abstraction today.  Just as irony and satire run through the veins of the human condition, an authoritative bias clogs the arteries.

Paul Gagner was born in 1976 in rural Wisconsin. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2005, and his MFA from Brooklyn College in 2009. He has exhibited throughout the US including the Sheila & Richard Riggs Leidy Galleries at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Housatonic Museum of Art and the Richmond Center for Visual Arts. In 2009, Gagner has four collages included in the Museum of Modern Art's print collection. Paul Gagner lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.