{"id":2885,"date":"2023-06-10T20:24:34","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T20:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dartmagazine.com\/?p=2885"},"modified":"2023-06-11T18:37:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T18:37:49","slug":"eric-sanders-tokyo-metropolitan-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/?p=2885","title":{"rendered":"Eric Sanders: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Steve Rockwell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eric
Eric Sanders, 10 Million Dollar Baby<\/em>, 2023, acrylic and lithograph transfer on canvas, 19 x 16 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his June, 2023 Tokyo Metropolitan Museum solo exhibition Eric Sanders tackles themes of time, history, and timelessness by directly referencing photographer Eadweard Muybridge. By 1887 Muybridge had become one of the most influential photographers of his time, driving both artist and scientist to examine the nature of movement more closely. Through his technique of \u201cfreezing\u201d human and animal locomotion, photographers might depict movement as a series of still images, and importantly, unleash the potential of motion pictures. Sanders and and his \u201cStar Walkin\u2019 7\u201d painting neatly covers this historic reference by printing the familiar sprocket holes of a film strip, here depicting images of his wife Anna walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eric
Eric Sanders, Star Walkin\u2019 7<\/em>, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sanders emphasizes \u201cfreeze-framing\u201d by combining body movement and liquid immersion. In \u201cBlinding Lights (1)\u201d it\u2019s a yellow splash, the body falling backward, a screen image of the figure uniting with paint into a split second freeze, as if fossilized in amber for eternity. The moment is an example of the heads-or-tails coin of time, with \u201cheads\u2019 it\u2019s now, and \u201ctails\u201d forever \u2013 a reminder that a milli-second cannot be severed from countless millennia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Eric Sanders, Nude Descending Staircase No. 2<\/em>, 2023, acrylic on canvas stretched panel, 60 x 40 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gerhard Richter\u2019s \u201cWoman Descending the Staircase\u201d is directly referenced by Sanders in his \u201cNude Descending Staircase,\u201d here the angle of the stairs resembling the railroad track to infinity schematic, sometimes used in illustrating perspective and spatial depth. The hooded, but otherwise nude, figure carries an aura of mystery as she appears in a shroud of mottled yellow and black. It\u2019s impossible to not be reminded of Duchamp\u2019s 1912 \u201cNude Descending a Staircase (No. 2),\u201d giving the Sanders \u201cNude\u201d a double, but necessary, historic reference. It\u2019s clear that Sanders wishes to \u201crun the table\u201d of art linkages, since Muybridge was first out of the gate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn these paintings I engage with, and work against, the traditional artist\/muse relationship,\u201d Sanders states. If I read this correctly, the artist wishes to give Anna, his wife, greater self-assurance and independence of spirit than we might normally ascribe to the muse of art history. The cinematic aspect of this group of works rises to the fore, especially when read as a whole, and Anna is clearly its star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eric
Eric Sanders, Inverted<\/em>, 2023, acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 108 x 144 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sanders having limited this work to monochrome palette and suggestive titles in groups of \u201cfreeze\u201d images opens up the possibility for the viewer to ascribe filmic possibilities to the exhibition. \u201cBulls on Parade,\u201d an acrylic and charcoal on canvas, whether suggestive of protagonist or antagonist symbolically, conveys a full-frontal charge of energy towards the viewer. \u201cBlinding Lights\u201d and \u201cInverted,\u201d are splash and explosion of yellow and magenta respectively, while \u201cBad Bitch O\u2019clock\u201d a catastrophe of some sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eric
Eric Sanders, Electric Love<\/em>, 2023, acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 72 x 60 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A series of small print-based works drew inspiration from Muybridge again, and might serve as staccato punctuations to any work in the 12\u201d x 16\u201d acrylic and lithograph transfer on canvas board series. Each have suggestive titles such as \u201cThe Butterfly Effect,\u201d \u201cWay Less Sad,\u201d and \u201cIt Ain\u2019t the Same as it Was.\u201d A simple narrative might be: Woman (10 Million Dollar Baby) walks down staircase only to tumble into turbulent water, where she battles an unseen foe. An acrylic and charcoal on canvas titled \u201cUnchained\u201d suggests a rescue with an eventual happy ending through \u201cElectric Love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This first international solo exhibition by Eric Sanders is open-ended with a raw edge, capturing something of the background turbulence that culture and society is undergoing at the moment, and should resonate with a viewer from a diversity of points of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Sanders Solo Exhibition:<\/strong> Tokyo Metropolitan Museum. Opens June 14th, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Steve Rockwell In his June, 2023 Tokyo Metropolitan Museum solo exhibition Eric Sanders tackles themes of time, history, and timelessness by directly referencing photographer Eadweard Muybridge. By 1887 Muybridge had become one of the most influential photographers of his time, driving both artist and scientist to examine the nature of movement more closely. Through … <\/p>\n

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