The Hole presents a group exhibition called “Early Man”, a show in which the artists use various strategies to create meaning, from the barely rudimentary to the highly sophisticated, taking early art making (as in Upper Paleolithic) as a jumping off point.
“Early Man” shows how differently 21st-century artists tackle the idea compared to for example Gauguin or Picasso.
Rude and crude, the works share a naive style and a focus on the abject—seen, for example, in the way paint is treated as primordial ooze in both Bjarne Melgaard’s lumpen portrait faces and Francine Spiegel’s paintings of seminaked models covered in multicolored goo. But that’s just one of several interlacing themes here.
Artists included: Aurel Schmidt, Austin Lee, Barry McGee, Bjarne Melgaard, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Christian Rosa, David Pappaceno, David Shrigley, Dennis Hoekstra, Devin Troy Strother, Eric Yahnker, Francine Spiegel, Giovanni Garcia-Fenech, Jim Drain, JIM JOE, Katherine Bernhardt, Misaki Kawai, Paul DeMuro, Takeshi Murata, Theo Rosenblum.
Until December 28th, 2014
The Hole – 312 Bowery, Chinatown & Little Italy – New York
