Overview by Christopher J. Graham, visitor contributor
Its Getting Darkish, Joey Cocciardi’s present present at The Lodge options twelve explosive work. Their compositions differ between obvious firework-inspired bursts to glowing auras from an astral aircraft, main the viewer to a spot of ephemera. Their surfaces are labored over via layers of utilized painted paper and surfaces whittled down, courtesy of an orbital sander. The result’s a rewarding peek into the historical past of the portray’s construction.
FRWK-2203 (courtesy of The Lodge)
The works within the present all have variations on the identify FRWK, an abbreviation of the phrase firework. The biggest portray within the present, FRWK 2203, options neon colours as they attain via a darkish shroud. It’s comparatively centralized with an abstracted “burst” prominently featured within the work. The biggest portray within the present appears to have a textural part in frequent with later Richter Cage work. With commentary, the viewer can see how paint was faraway from the floor and reapplied to others. Within the depths of the void area, there are flecks of white- small illustrations of stars- permitting the work’s darkish area to develop into the cosmos.
FRWK-2309 (courtesy of The Lodge)
Most of the compositions within the present characteristic single “bursts” of a firework towards a void that shifts as soon as in colour, often within the form of a halo. By portray variations on the identical composition Cocciardi highlights key variations within the work, making slight compositional tweaks really feel like a departure. An instance of that is FRWK 2302 with its celestial burst remodeling into cartoon-stylized stars alongside the outer body of the piece and FRWK 2309. In 2309, Cocciardi wears down the floor simply earlier than they turn out to be unintelligible. With cautious examination, the viewer can see the echoed compositional framework from 2302.
FRWK-2302 (courtesy of The Lodge)
At occasions the bursts within the FRWK resemble issues aside from fireworks. FRWK 2306, incorporates a washy pink, inexperienced and yellow type that appears to chop in ribbons via a darkened black and merlot-tinged void. The composition suggests palm fronds, so frequent in Los Angeles, they floor Cocciardi in a selected locale. In FRWK 2312, the artist hides faint inexperienced and yellow swirls that resemble patterns created via batik or tie dye towards a cerulean halo.
FRWK-2314 (courtesy of The Lodge)
Welcome is FRWK-2314, with its three-headed burst. The portray jogs my memory of a few of Harold Ancart’s UFO work, with its ascending motion and jagged formal strains. These bursts illuminate the void area that they occupy. Elsewhere within the present, proof of a Spirograph is current, this ingredient of play comes throughout within the work via the slight resemblance to “scratch and sketch” model youngsters’s coloring units.
Since a lot of the work within the present are 14 x 11 inches, a way of pictorial scale turns into fairly vital. How the bursts work together with the sides of the canvas floor, can point out their supposed sizes. The pictorial shifts in scale, although slight, introduces variation the place formal qualities stay lean.
Cocciardi’s Its Getting Darkish at The Lodge exhibits an artist exploring the concepts of working a floor, and materials discount with out being reductive. Flashing coloured kinds towards contrasting void area unifies the compositions to create a cohesive physique of labor. The impact of those work has one thing in frequent with the second after a firework explodes, the scent of gunpowder and the smoke hanging within the air. After the firework present there’s usually a second of awe within the aftermath, spent marveling on the magnificence and technicality of the feats on show, and that is no exception.
Joey Cocciardi Its Getting Darkish, runs from July 22nd to August 12th 2023.