{"id":2781,"date":"2023-01-17T17:13:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T17:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dartmagazine.com\/?p=2781"},"modified":"2023-01-17T17:17:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T17:17:35","slug":"saul-acevedo-gomezs-forethought-last-paintings-of-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/?p=2781","title":{"rendered":"Saul Acevedo Gomez’s Forethought: Last Paintings of Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Anne Leith<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Saul
Installation View<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Forethought: Last Paintings of Nature<\/em>, is the title of Saul Acevedo Gomez\u2019s recent installation at Swivel Saugerties. The title references Magritte\u2019s painting \u2018Forethought\u2019, depicting a tree branching out with a curious group of diverse flower varieties, and like Magritte, Gomez\u2019s work is a layered puzzle of ideas and images, including what Magritte called \u2018language games\u2019. Gomez\u2019s subject matter is nature, but not depicted in a naturalistic way \u2013 he creates drawings of rooms with artwork and text, such as canvases leaning face towards the walls, childlike depictions of trees and flowers on strips of paper, personal notes, references to other artists and writers, and cryptic commentary. These drawings reflect on how we are failing in our attempts to keep the planet healthy \u2013 and to the anxiety that provokes \u2013 perhaps due to a lack of forethought?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forethought: Last Paintings of Nature<\/em> was situated in a small bank vault room, \u2018The Safe\u2019. The installation included tiled floors that match those in the drawings, which enhanced the effect of entering into a claustrophobic diorama of ideas. The enclosed space of The Safe<\/em>, with its echo chamber of sound was the perfect setting for creating a deliberate sense of unease, with the implication that \u2018nature\u2019 is now a precious commodity that is locked away in a man-made vault for safe keeping.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Saul
Don’t Worry We Got Art<\/strong>, 2022, colored pencil on paper, 26″ x !9″<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Each drawing is an exploration of ideas, deliberately hidden and ambiguous, with canvases leaning against the walls, the front side unseen. The interiors walls of these \u2018rooms\u2019 are layered with repeated childlike drawings of trees and flowers and hand-drawn wood grain, creating an attractive decorative space then subverted by scrawled dystopic messages. Text and titles such as Don\u2019t Worry We Got Art, How To Be At Peace With Nature<\/em>, and Sit and Meditate The Fire Is Coming<\/em> pointedly undermines any sense of comfort or simple pleasure in the images. One example is Find Me If You Are Feeling Anxious<\/em>, which includes a drawn computer link to search for How To Enjoy this Moment<\/em> and the back of a canvas roughly drawn with the text I Hope You Start Panicking Today<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Saul
It’s Time to Let Go<\/strong>, 2022, colored pencil on paper, 26″ x 19″<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Gomez creates a matrix of illusion in these poetic works, connecting art, nature, and the internet – complex yet refreshingly clear with well-thought-out ideas. His drawn link motif to internet searches such as How Can I Experience Nature<\/em> emphasizes the non-experiential way we interact today with the nature around us – as do the canvases leaning against the wall \u2013 another level of separation from truly seeing what is going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This intriguing show is layered with meaning, and handsomely offers up a troubling look at one artist\u2019s view of the state of man\/nature\/art and the ideas surrounding their interface today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saul Acevedo Gomez: Forethought: Last Paintings of Nature<\/strong>, Swivel Saugerties, Safe Room Project, 258 Main Street, Saugerties, NY 12477 November 12 \u2013 December 11, 2022<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Anne Leith Forethought: Last Paintings of Nature, is the title of Saul Acevedo Gomez\u2019s recent installation at Swivel Saugerties. The title references Magritte\u2019s painting \u2018Forethought\u2019, depicting a tree branching out with a curious group of diverse flower varieties, and like Magritte, Gomez\u2019s work is a layered puzzle of ideas and images, including what Magritte … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Saul Acevedo Gomez’s Forethought: Last Paintings of Nature”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2781"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2790,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2781\/revisions\/2790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}