Preview: Scott Scheidly “Glamour Shots” @ Spoke Art Gallery [NYC]

Back in 2013, we posted a preview for an exhibit by Orlando artist, Scott Scheidly.  Titled The Pinks and hosted at Spoke Art in San Francisco, it was the painter’s very first solo show with the gallery and was comprised of portraits of figures like politicians, tyrants, celebrities, and even assault weapons typically known for harshness, aggression, and/or projections of masculinity, yet rendered in a much more softening color palette of purples and pinks.  By the time this show was announced, Scott had already begun earning recognition for this trademark aesthetic, which first came to my attention with his contribution of an Inglourious Basterds-inspired HItler painted in a wildberry color scheme for a Coen Brother x Quentin Tarantino tribute show.  From there, we witnessed similar portraits of Stalin, Kim Jong-il, and the Pope John Paul II, followed by Clint Eastwood, Boba Fett, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Darth Maul (“Darth Mauve”), each enduring Scheidly‘s one-of-a-kind pinkening treatment, while building anticipation leading into his solo exhibit.

It’s not surprising that folks would enjoy seeing such a notoriously horrific piece of shit as Adolph Hitler being taken down a notch with an image of him donning such “feminine” garb.  I’d even seen the painting of the WWII villain referred to as “gay Hitler,” elsewhere, a depiction that one might rightly assume the Führer would not have appreciated.  But, what interested me about The Pinks series was that I saw it as something well beyond a one-dimensional joke that took shots at someone’s masculinity.  Scott‘s vibrant photorealistic technique stands on it’s own, but I find little appeal in the idea of poking at something/someone for being “girlie,” as if that was some derogatory term worth throwing around on a schoolyard.  The fact of the matter is that the artist never actually referred to his painting as “gay Hitler,” himself — that phrasing was, instead, birthed by select individuals that viewed it.  Scheidly wasn’t mocking the LGBTQ community, and he definitely wasn’t implying that femininity or homosexuality was a weakness, but rather, questioning our own interpretations of gender identity, strength, and masculinity, based on own our own perceptions and relationships with color, which have been ingrained in us as both individuals and a culture.

The Florida painter actually reached out to me, after we posted that last piece, 5 years ago.  He was kind enough to express a belief that I had, perhaps, recognized that important component of his work and the intention behind what he was doing, on some level.  He seemed appreciative that we even bothered to try and understand and address it in our preview.  It can be a bit of a risky move to knowingly throw this type of loaded imagery out there, fully aware of how easy it could be misinterpreted, especially since it’s that intention and desire to test our own pre-programmed interpretations and individual analyses that provide it with its real value.  I mean, you can’t exactly create a paintings of someone like Hitler, without being aware of the risk that not everyone will necessarily “get it.”

Seeing as how the last write-up, apparently, did a decent job in trying to verbalize exactly how I interpreted Schiedly‘s attempts to prompt us to interpret the roots of our own interpretations…. Well…  Ummm…  Here’s an excerpt from that previous post.  It’s probably better to just move ahead and read this before I make things any more confusing and sabotage whatever progress we may have previously achieved in providing clarity to what’s at the heart of the work.

---

“… there’s the larger question beyond all of this and that’s why/how homosexuality equals a lack of masculinity.  And the question that looms even larger than that is why using a different color palette insinuates homosexuality, or a supposed weakness in the first place.

It’s important to recognize that Scheidly never painted “homo HItler” at all, he simply painted the subject wearing his typical getup, but in a more unorthodox colorway.  The iconic red, white, and black used by the Nazi party is well known as one of the most powerful and intense combinations in the color world, so simply the act of messing with that possesses a power of its own.  Throw Scheidly‘s painting into photoshop, strip away the color, view them in greyscale, and see how differently you interpret what you’re looking at.  The artist is experimenting with color itself and what it represents to us as individuals and as a society at large, so any reaction to it, negatively or positively, only reinforces the amount of power that color truly possesses.”

---

A 2016 article from Artborne Magazine features a quote from Scott Scheidly that further reinforces this concept and intention.

---

“Mainly it’s about color theory and how color can change perceptions. Which it does. When people look at these, they think it’s gay Hitler. But it’s not gay Hitler, that’s your perception that he’s gay because he’s wearing pink.”

---

On Saturday, October 6th, Scheidly returns to Spoke Art with a brand new collection of works; this time, his debut solo show at their New York City gallery location.  The lilacs and carnation pinks are still in the mix, along with past subjects such as Donald Trump, Che Guevara, and HItler, albeit with a slightly different twist.  Named after the widely popular mall photography craze of the 1980s and 90s, Glamour Shots places these figures in coy poses, accessorized with animal print, silks, eye makeup, and feathered boas.  Whereas the provocation of his previous work stemmed primarily from the color palette, these new pieces would raise an immaculately tweezed eye brow or two, even if they were completely desaturated and presented in black and white.  Slightly more overt, in certain respects, there’s still a undeniable level of joy in seeing some of the more polarizing and abrasive characters with their edges sanded down, as they seductively ham it up for the fictional cameras.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this little tweak to the artist’s approach only reminds us of how much those who lead with intimidation and constant reminders of the powers and resources they have at their disposal truly are dependent on recognition and attention to prove to themselves — and the rest of the world — that they exist at all.  It’s fucking sad for them and it’s really fucking sad for the rest of us.  Of course, there is always a range in the muses that Scheidly chooses to display side-by-side, and, because of that, there will also be a variation in responses, magnified on a case-by-case basis depending on the built-in perceptions that each individual viewer carries in with them, regarding each of the figures represented.  It’s a murky world out there my friends, one where longtime villains of the left like George “Weapons Of Mass Destruction / Doesn’t Care About Black People” W Bush, John “Racist Asian & Iranian Remarks / Voted Against MLK Day & The Civil Rights Act” McCain, or Megyn “Santa just IS white, like Jesus / Trayvon & Michael Brown Deserved it” Kelly have been softened through their own miraculous PR to the point where they are now held up as progressive heroes, irrespective of their problematic legacies, simply based on whoever they find themselves sitting across from in the disorienting and nauseating game of musical chairs kept in rotation by a mutli-billion dollar 24hr corporate news machine and social media.  Meanwhile, a bumbling, dipshit, reality-show man-child stomps his feet in a powerful throne that he obtained by preaching for less invasive government, while tirelessly fighting for every possible way to expand its reach into every one of our individual lives and liberties.  With the additional context of something as transformational as the #metoo movement at play, what better time could there be to throw all these symbols of power and masculinity at the canvas, slather them in pastel hues, and observe what pops out?  I expect that some critics might believe that there is potential danger whenever we risk softening the image of anyone/thing that poses their own potential danger to our lives and principles, but the power of art is that it can have the ability to trigger an emotional response first, which then prompts us to analyze where those responses come from.  The way I see it, the last thing that we need right now is to further suffocate any examination of why and how we feel and interpret what we do.  After all, this is an emotionally charged climate being infested with and driven by mob mentalities, group think, identity politics, and blind reactions, where our own momentum can so easily be utilized against us.  Plus, who couldn’t use a little lip tint or rouge, from time to time, when you really think about it?

Check out preview images for the exhibit below the following event details…

WHAT:

Glamour Shots
Scott Schiedly Solo Exhibit

WHEN:

Opening Reception:
Saturday, October 6, 2018
6pm-8pm

WHERE:

Spoke Art Gallery
210 Rivington St,
New York City, NY 10002-2503

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Opening is ALL AGES
The artist will be in attendance
Show on view until Sunday, October 28th, 2018
Facebook Event Page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/470243906803277