Monday, March 26, 2012

Visual Mythologies: Asspiratons


jev cosimo
Know Your Limits.
I began this new adventure one year ago after meeting with a gallerist organized by an Italian television actor. She was very receptive to my work, half of my work.  She was entranced by those Paintings that dripped with life, an archaic beauty that is organic and flowing. This is the work that I consider prayer. It comes through me but is not of me, and is only half of my explorations.  The half of my work she did not respond to was that which found imagery played a major role. She finally told me she would meet with me to discuss handling my work but if she did I should not and could not do any work where the penmanship was not my own. Hmmm
Wall in Piazza Puccini Firenze Italia

When I began seriously studying printmaking my obsession was with ideas of automatic reproduction. Silk screening became a reflection of that for me. I would cull the streets for imagery then reprint that imagery or glue it directly to the canvass. Cutting and pasting I attempted to reproduce the effect of the surfaces that surround me daily.





One beauty of being an artist is that you can put your thoughts forward and by controlling them slightly, arouse within the viewer insights that are both personal and plural. When I see an advertisement I always ask myself what it is saying to me. When I see layers of messages together conclusions become different, muddled, and confusing, it becomes visual static.

jev cosimo, joshua cosimo
Judgement Day
Last year I created a series called "Asspirations" inspired by Piazza Puccini in Firenze. The space is dominated by a huge fascist cigarette factory cascading billboards heavy with conversation flanking its sides. Huge breasted, puffy lipped trannie prostitutes decorate it. Piazza Puccini is the best example of contemporary urban planning in Florence. Its capacity as an unpretencious artistic space that develoups organically is devine. It is a modern funhouse reflection of the ancient religious wall frescos in Florences numerous churches. The Piazza is richly layered, its messages in turn become dissjointed and surreal.
jev cosimo, joshua cosimo
Highness
 The whole atmosphere is thought provoking, I tell the girls "buon lavoro" when I pass, they smile waving excitedly to see a familiar face. It is very sweet and  very ambitious. All these visual elements allow for the creation of  moment, feeling, and that place.
jev cosimo, joshua cosimo
Hollywood Divorce

 "Asspirations" was about creating a surface layered with imagery that related to one idea. Tearing and cutting  parts of information away then creates more complex statements.
This experience has taught me all these personal explorations are valid and necessary. They part of my visual journey through this world. It is my artistic prerogative and imperative to draw upon what I feel is the best possible vernacular to convey a statement. If I choose to use my own hand or reprocess the work of others it does not devalue the end result. I did however respond to her demands and began to enmesh my distinct voice with plurality that is found in automatic reproductive media.


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