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| moderndallas.net Special “Eye” to Watch June Mattingly // contributing art writer Jonathan Stewart “New & Improved” at Haley-Henman Gallery March 26 This solo show is Jonathan's second at Haley-Henman: it places him in the qualifying process of receiving an MFA degree from the University of Dallas and reintroduces a totally original artistic satirist and simulator of consumer-product imagery. A critic correctly commented on his first show that his colored ink covered pretend packages of food, medicine and other common items used in the home, "create a parody of commercialism - like serious realistic versions of toy Lego sets." |
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| Jonathan's forte are three-dimensional silkscreen prints paired with corresponding two- dimensional prints consisting of "off the wall" made-up brand names, buzzwords and slogans. These stylized art objects light-heartedly play off packaging styles marketers fill full of puzzling ingredients, impressive claims and scary side effects. The viewer is encouraged to playfully interact with personally handmade sculptural symbols similar to Andy Warhol’s assembly-line carpenter-made plywood boxes from the mid-60s. Warhol's boxes advertising different consumer products need comparison as they were quite different in their production and symbolism. His Brillo soap pads and Kellogg's corn flakes were painted and silkscreened with the logos, the finished sculptures being virtually indistinguishable from their cardboard supermarket counterparts sitting on the shelves. The blank “machine-made” look of Warhol’s boxes contrasted sharply with the gestural brushstrokes of the Abstract Expressionist painters of the time. |
| Jonathan’s second solo is in the qualifying process of an MFA degree in art at the University of Dallas reintroduces this young artist as a totally original artistic satirist and simulator of consumer-product imagery. For his first show here D Magazine in a complimentary way commented that his colored ink covered pretend packages of food, medicine and other common items used in the home, “create a parody of commercialism — like serious, realistic versions of toy LEGO sets.” Jonathan’s forte, three dimensional silkscreen prints paired with corresponding two dimensional prints become an “off the wall” parody of made-up brand names, buzzwords and slogans. His stylized art objects play off packaging styles marketers fill full of puzzling ingredients, impressive claims and scary side effect warnings. Rather the viewer is encouraged to playfully interact with personally handmade sculptural symbols similar to Andy Warhol’s assembly-line carpenter-made plywood boxes from the mid-60s. |
| Warhol’s boxes advertising different consumer products such as Brillo soap pads and Kellogg’s corn flakes were then painted and silk-screened with the logos, the finished sculptures being virtually indistinguishable from their cardboard supermarket counterparts sitting on the shelves. The blank “machine-made” look of Warhol’s boxes contrasted sharply with the gestural brushstrokes of the Abstract Expressionist painters of the time. “I ask the questions: Can a package be too annoying? How stupid can a product get? My answers are yes and very. My creations are the illogical extension of these phenomena. It’s not the steak that interests me, but rather the box the sizzle comes in. My images begin in my head, are sketched and added to in a notebook, then planned with a computer. The digital files often include hand-drawn, scanned, and photographed elements. After the designs of the images are completed in the computer, they are separated into different colors, then screen-printed onto flat paper. The paper is then trimmed or cut, resulting in a print, while boxes require additional folding and gluing.” |
| Haley-Henman is located at 2335 Hardwick Street the third left after crossing the Trinity River on the Commerce Street Bridge headed from downtown in sight of the Calatrava-designed Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. www.haleyhenman.com |
| “Bite-Sized Gotcha!” 2011, 3 D screen-print on paper, 81/4 x 6 x 5 inches |
| “New!” 2011 3D silkscreen print on paper, 9 x 11 1/2 x 2 7/8 inches |
| “Air!” 2011, 3D silkscreen print on paper and acrylic, 6 1/2 x 5 x 2 inches |