'Crippled Flower' exhibit at Front Door
by Brad Horn, Outpost staff
- A sharp, jagged edge spikes out each of the works of
art in Max Roger's collection "Crippled Flowers." In some
of the pieces hanging in the Front Door Gallery rusted
metal slices into
the
gallery's space. In others the art's edge is embedded in the theme of his work. Either way the advanced university art student creates a morose collection of work, arranging a disturbing mood that penetrates the audience.
Untitled Piece: Max Roger's painting really hooks his audience
Photo by Brad Horn
- In the artist's introduction Rogers says that, "crippled flowers refers to my inability to create things of beauty. The creation enables me to take the bad things on the inside; my fears, my regrets, my grief, and place them in the outside world."
- His art is a direct reflection of these words. A world of suffering is created in his exhibited work.
- "These...Things, My Demons, help me. My hope is that you may appreciate them for their grotesquesness, their strangeness."
- The untitled piece on the wall that introduces the audience to Rogers work, is disturbing yet inviting. A green insect is being pulled out of the eyebrow, blood covers the insect's skin. The aqua-blue eye is exposed to light by the hook that lifts its lid. The blood-shot eye seems forced open, awaken from a dream.
- The bronzes hanging on the wall reveal more of
Roger's crippled and dark
art.
Untitled: These pieces by Max Rogers show the artist's dark side
Photo by Brad Horn
- "Growing Old Gracefully," is a chiseled bronze face, turning to the right, blankly staring over the viewer's shoulder. The piece's lack of detail shows the signs of an aging soul. The crude sculpting seems to reveal the artist's perception or fear of aging. It is negative.
- "Blanket Party" is reminiscent of Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream." This bronze face is stretched and full of emotion. Attention is drawn immediately to the wide mouth. The artist effectively creates motion in this piece with the mouth--it seems to grow wider the longer you stare. The face is in obvious pain.
- The uneven teeth in Roger's piece "Bite the Bullet" grip a rusted bullet casing as the jaw's muscles flex. Perhaps the artist's fear of death or paranoia of being shot are exposed here--his "bad things" placed in the outside world.
- Roger's theme of mangled and distorted figures is apparent in his piece "Fear." A spike shoots out this bronze forehead, the mouth expressive of the pain. The hallow eyes and clinched jaw remain frozen from the pain of its death.
- The artist's series "10 Sheep" is a collection of bronze pieces resembling parts of the spine. These spines, sticking out of the wall, might mirror Roger's view on people who follow mainstream thought. In this work he collects the spines from the people absent the ability or desire to think and act individually. He exposes these shells, laughing at their primal state.
- The centerpiece of "Crippled Flowers" is a collection of animal skulls, cylinder shaped sculptures, odd arrangements of nails and paint, and pieces of the human form. These pieces sit on three levels, trapped between two flowing rusted-metal sculptures. White veils seal the collection, creating one striking piece of art.
- Both sculptures are assembled with twisting pieces of crude metal, spiking into the work's space. This fluid movement lures the viewer's eye toward the rest of the art. Rogers effectively uses the space, penetrating the viewer's senses with his hard and dark intruding technique.
-
Untitled: Another of Max's sculptures is simple but this bronze shows off his artist talent.
Photo by Brad Horn
The sculpture on the left moves the audience's attention to the right with its jagged-edged metal. On the right, the sculpture's metal spikes catch the viewer's attention moving their eyes back to the center of the collection.
- On one of the pieces hanging above the other work in this collection, the artist uses shades of red. He paints the thin pieces of metal, which almost bloom like a rose's petals, with reds that fade into maroon, giving the audience a sense of blood and death.
- The circular black ceramic pieces holding the three shelves that the rest of his pieces sit on, are filled with grief and death. The figures seem tortured--tongues stick out of his figures' mouths. Some of the images in the piece are only mouth and tongue. Fear fills the eyes. Death and gloom are once again present.
- A small sculpture of a hand caught in the act of gripping an object, rests above the haunting animal skulls with horns shooting out their heads.
- Max Roger's "Crippled Flowers" will be on display in the Front Door Gallery in Church of Fine Arts through March 16. His style of modern sculpture empties the painful emotions from his soul, relieving him of the fears and grief that haunt him.
Posted March 29, 2000
Copyright 2000 Nevada Oupost