Charles Bignon (BigDiscipline)
The French Perspective: Contemporary Art from France
June 29 - July 20, 2010
Reception:
Thursday July 1, 2010 6-8 PM
Press Release
“I don’t love New York.” With this provocative statement, Charles Bignon (BigDiscipline) introduces us to his work. He draws on the ubiquitous imagery of advertisement and American consumerism, painting in a graphic style that mimics the screen print of cheap advertising. BigDiscipline draws our attention to the language of our urban culture, isolating and elevating elements to a pedestal where they shine on or condemn the narcissism of modern culture. This dualism is the key to his work, a layer of complexity that unites the works and presents us with the society we have created to make ourselves happy.
Taken directly from observations of people on the street, icons and street signs, billboards, flags, brands and politics, most of BigDiscipline’s images are digitalized and worked on a computer before he paints them freehand onto the canvas. Stripped to their essentials, the images reflect the heart and the absence of heart in contemporary society.
Artist Statement
Through my works, the language of an urban culture is celebrated, sometimes positively and sometimes more critically, something which paradoxically gives coherence to the whole collection named "I dontloveNY". Provocation lies in the mixture, from looking at the dark side of a consumer society designed by advertising and mass media which spread the American way of life. I use a direct imagery in a fiction-reality, and NY like a symbol for a global situation, and the irony of modern communication, to understand our world. The creation process starts from the observation of urban people, icons, moods, and so on. I move from nature, interpreting with both a computer and traditional freehand painting. There is only the expression of the situation, without feelings. The image is stripped, reduced to its essential features - Expressionist urban scenes, which reflect the heart and the absence of heart of our contemporary society.
Invitation to the exhibition
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Artists in this exhibition
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