A Long Way Forward
As Americans experience caution fatigue despite a pandemic growing in deadliness, the art gallery emerges as a place of sanctuary and safety.
After two months at home, it was not a restaurant or travel that I sought as a distraction, but the solace of a quiet art gallery, filled with nothing but paintings and my thoughts. At Hosfelt Gallery, Andrew Schoultz’s hypnotic paintings, rife with symbolism impeded by the chaos of today’s world, are the perfect reentry to viewing art out of the house.
Installation View of Andrew Schoultz, Radiating Eyes (Prism), 2019
Schoultz achieves a tour de force, presenting more than thirty paintings, that despite their bravado in stunning fluorescent reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and greens, manage to not overcrowd the fortunately immense space. The result is a visual feast for anyone struck by the ennui of two months in their apartment.
Schoultz’s work favors the patient viewer, his signature style blends an op-art influence moire-like pattern rendered in dazzling and vivid colors with a plethora of recurring imagery. At times the movement embedded in this moire obscures the narrative, at others it distracts. I find it a fitting metaphor for the search for truth in today’s reality, the difficulty in breaking through the repetition and noise in popular media to gain a true understanding of history unfolding.
Andrew Schoultz, Noble Growth Vessels with Arch, 2020, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 60 x 48 inches.
Andrew Schoultz, Noble Fortress with Serpent, 2018-2020, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 30 x 22 inches
Beneath this painterly overture lies a complex and recurring iconography Blue jays, dragons, serpents, and armor-clad knights are among the living beings that often populate Schoultz’s paintings. These references to history and mythology are reinforced by ceramic vessels reminiscent of Greek olive oil jars, stained glass windows, and the tree of life. While Schoultz may not assign specific meaning to some of these images and animals, the living creatures seem to be a state turmoil, the serpents and dragons are agitators inflicting chaos on rage on the bird’s sense of peace. The preponderance of mythological and historical imagery suggests a recurring narrative - that violence and chaos are cyclical. They may manifest differently today but exist nonetheless. The longevity of this narrative is reinforced when considering the dual histories that influence the dialogue - images sourced from Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman sources tell similar stories.
Andrew Schoultz, The Long Way Forward (Window), 2020, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 78 x 72 inches.
The natural flow of Hosfelt Gallery leads the viewer in a counter-clockwise direction. For this exhibition, in particular, the visitor is best suited to follow this path. In such a manner, the viewer begins with a confrontation of chaos in the immediacy and vigor of Schoultz’s op art marks. Two large paintings Radiating Eyes (Prism), 2019 and Fountain, 2019 envelope the viewer. A number of smaller paintings more focused on narrative and iconography follow, with varying levels of moire. The order suggests the viewer read into these narratives with caution, that the narrator cannot be fully trusted. The painterly act of disruption obscures the search for truth.
The exhibition culminates in what certainly is Schoutlz’s most ambitious piece to date. The monumental painting Cathedral, 2016-2020 pieces together 20 canvas in a wide-reaching exploration of the implications of how centralized power influences violence and the telling of history.
Andrew Schoultz, Cathedral, 2016-2020, Acrylic on canvas over panel (comprised of 20 panels); acrylic on wood bench, 146 x 388 inches. Image courtesy of Hosfelt Gallery
The center and majority of the piece is devoted to an aerial cross-section of a church. From an architectural standpoint, the edifice is Christian composed of a singular nave with two pinnacles. Yet like most of Schoultz’s work, the imagery is drawn from multiple sources. Two massive helmets from suits of armor sit on the floor, while a cycle of paintings depicting natural disasters, the tree of life, and imagined continents hang on the rear wall. Two stained glass windows flank either end of the cathedral with decidedly non-Christian imagery, they portray the Sphynx and Atlas. The outer thirds of the piece recall Schoutlz’s earlier works. On the left, a ceramic vessel contains a dragon, while a serpent exists the vessel and wraps itself around a large tree of life. This exact image repeats itself on the right side, yet this time on the stained glass window of another smaller edifice. This same image is portrayed one more time in the foreground - a toppled vessel holds the same two creatures, the serpent mirrored by a final serpent wrapped around yet another tree of life.
Detail (far left) of Andrew Schoultz, Cathedral, 2016-2020.
Detail (far right) of Andrew Schoultz, Cathedral, 2016-2020.
This repetition of imagery and mélange of historical frameworks recall both the cyclical nature of history, as well the difficulty in the search for truth. By juxtaposing a Christian edifice with ancient greek mythology, Schoultz cleverly displays the rise and fall of power throughout history. One only needs to imagine a governmental building in the place of the cathedral to see the cycle repeat itself. While the entity manifests differently, the story remembers the same.
The archetypes presented by the Tree of Life, Sphynx and Atlas tell the story of the human lifecycle. Reading the painting from left to right, we begin with the loss of innocence. It is no accident that every image of the tree of life is encumbered by a serpent, the agitator that forces reality upon humanity. The Sphynx follows; an indication of the difficult choices and obstacles in life, often with dire consequences. We bear these burdens with cause, as indicated by the presence of Atlas. The task of shaping this world, and potentially breaking the cycle of power rests on the shoulders of the people.
Gazing upon Cathedral, my mind wandered to the idea of the museum and gallery space as a sort of temple, where we go to pay reverence to the creative output of artists. In the process, we learn about ourselves and the world. In a time of a seemingly unending pandemic, this sentiment is amplified, the gallery offers a space away from home to nourish and embolden our souls.
Andrew Schoultz’s solo exhibition Mother Nature, Father Time is on view until July 11th, 2020 at Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco, California. Visit https://calendly.com/hosfelt-gallery to schedule an appointment to view the exhibition.
Installation view of Andrew Schoultz, Mother Nature Father, Time, June 01 - July 11, 2020 at Hosfelt Gallery