{"id":45209,"date":"2020-04-12T15:40:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T19:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=45209"},"modified":"2020-06-04T17:03:37","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T21:03:37","slug":"eli-langer-at-clint-roenisch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=45209","title":{"rendered":"Eli Langer at Clint Roenisch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Just before this show was to open, Toronto shut down. We suddenly became familiar with living in a mode of social distancing. So now Eli Langer\u2019s carefully arranged work sits in an empty, locked space. We have only photos, which we look at as through windows, back into the happy, noontime light of those free-mobility days\u2026  Did you ever expect to feel nostalgia for February<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re missing a lot by not seeing this show in person because the work involves the material, and craft of painting. It\u2019s the kind of work you want to get up close to. How thick is the paint; how was it applied? Which colours are underneath and which on top? Is it shiny or flat? What do the edges look like? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll have to wait to find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The installation views give a consistent, integrated impression but on closer inspection the work is far from homogeneous. It spans several years, from 2004 to 2008. Langer describes it as a micro-survey show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The earliest painting on display is RSVP<\/em> which depicts a face looking through thick leaves. She\u2019s not looking directly at us. Our eyes don\u2019t meet. The darkness of the leaves suggest that we may be hidden in shadow and not visible to her. Langer writes: \u201cAlthough she has stepped up to look through the window, she is not ready to step out \u2026 nor to fully confront whatever she sees beyond the foliage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image is rendered in simple, unambiguous\nbrushwork. The face is painted in light, thin paint whereas the closest leaves\nare defined in heavy sinewy strokes. The paint handling conveys the narrative\nof its creation.  You can play it back in\nyour mind: the motion of arm, wrist and brush. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Langer painted RSVP<\/em> when he had just moved to California. He feels that it reflects the shyness and apprehension of the newly arrived outsider. But don\u2019t you recognize that expression now? It\u2019s the look of the persistent, low-grade fear we direct at our neighbours now. Keep your distance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RSVP, oil on canvas, 42 x 42 inches <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With organic shapes in languorous greens and blues, Untitled (figure and foliage)<\/em> looks at first to be a nonrepresentational painting. Until you discover the figure standing at the centre of the image. It gave me a little jolt. Suddenly the centre of the painting has perspective and depth. The figure generates an odd tension. My eye keeps moving; switching between seeing illusional space behind, and the flat shapes on the surface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Langer starts his paintings \u2018fresh\u2019 by which he means without a precise plan. The paintings develop as he works on them. Langer says \u201c\u2026there is always a relationship between my drawings and paintings, but I never draw out or plan paintings from drawings because it won\u2019t work. Painting breaks away from every intention or preconception this painter might have had going in to it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Untitled (figure and foliage), oil on canvas, 50 x 46 inches <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bathyscape<\/em> is another painting that bridges representational and abstract imagery. The blacks, blues and greys are energized by little details of pink that create metallic coruscation as in an ancient faded daguerreotype. I noticed the figure first; its reflection in a still pool. But everything else is confusion. What is this space? The background and reflections in the liquid\u2019s surface don\u2019t agree. What are these shards and shapes in the foreground? The space breaks apart and again the eye keeps moving; trying to piece it all back together again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Langer writes: \u201cas the imagery developed over several sessions, I saw what I was painting was a moment of self reflection, in a post catastrophic world\u2026having somehow endured the ordeals.\u201d It\u2019s like a premonition of how we suddenly feel in this time of lock-down: disoriented and confused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bathyscape, oil on canvas, 78 x 67.5 inches <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large Configuration<\/em> is one of the more recent paintings in the show. A diffuse background gradates from zingy pink at the edges to grey blue in the centre. In the foreground are shapes in shades of grey that have a shallow, three-dimensional modeling. They are defined in simple and confident brushwork \u2013 there is no fussiness or hesitation in their making. The lines are painted once and that\u2019s that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Large Configuration, oil on canvas, 62 x 47.5 inches <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these later paintings there are no longer any human figures at all. Langer describes the paintings as being in the first person rather than third person. No longer a depiction of a character inside the picture, but something more direct between the artist and the viewer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The first person tense only required\nmy being present for the painting\u2026it was clear that I was marking, imprinting\nand affecting, effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These paintings tell you about the process of painting: how shapes and colours relate and how the artist has responded and added each element in a specific sequence. I find these engaging and restful. Just pure painting: music without words!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s no objectivity in art. We react emotionally. There\u2019s a pandemic and I\u2019m feeling frazzled; it colours my thinking. As I see them now, the figures in the paintings are isolated, dealing with a world that no longer makes sense. But how much of that is my own projection? Langer\u2019s paintings are open ended and ambiguous and can accommodate many different interpretations. What will my impression be in a happier, more confident world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll have to wait to find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikael Sandblom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images are courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Exhibition information: March 19 – mid July, 2020, Clint Roenisch Gallery, 190 St. Helens Avenue, Toronto. This is an online exhibition at
https:\/\/clintroenisch.com\/archive\/2020-2\/paintings\/<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mikael Sandblom<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re missing a lot by not seeing this show in person because the work involves the material, and craft of painting. It\u2019s the kind of work you want to get up close to.<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,220],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-mikael-sandblom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45209"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45380,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45209\/revisions\/45380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}