The Ghosts and Relicts of The Rex Prisms
The Rex Prisms by Paul P references the commemorative glass engraving which honors the late British artist (and Bright Young Thing) Rex Whistler. Paul P., who is best known for his emotive portrayals of gender and sexuality, displays his delicate paintings that play with light and the male form. His pieces comment especially upon the way homosexuality was portrayed before the 1970’s. As well paintings, Paul creates minimalist sculptures that both suggests and conceals form. Both mediums make an appearance in his new show at Maureen Paley.
The discretely sized paintings hang in three groups comprised of five or six, and contain a mixture of portraits and abstracts. The portraits are evanescent paintings of coquettish young men, ‘culled’ from gay ephemera. The characters are coyly gazing away from the viewer, often down and to the side, as if they are aware they are being watched. They invite ones gaze but refuse to meet it, as if they are shy and about to undress. Flesh is rendered as if it is pure Greek marble, smooth and with a paleness that is in no way pallid. The flesh-tones are reserved for the abstracts, which from certain angles resemble interiors, and feel much warmer than the portraits they accompany. Any of the paintings could be of the poet John Keats, who was a favorite amongst many of the Bright Young Things.
The paint is applied in such a way as to make the figures appear ghostlike; they seem to fade away at the edges and into the sparsely populated backgrounds. It is the figure that is on show here, and no superfluous detail is added. None of these portraits display what is occurring below the shoulder, and through this suggestive cropping one then is left to imagine what is happening beyond the frame, which makes any thoughts of sexuality or obscenity exist purely inside the mind of the viewer.
The wooden structures, or “furniture”, are separated into three groups that are displayed beneath a group of paintings. The groups consist of a windowed box structure and a hollow screen. The perfectly symmetrical joints and high-polish finish of the works suggests precision and sheen, something intentionally avoided in the adjacent paintings. The boxes are redolent of modernist churches with high angular windows and simplistic design, something that conjures up images of persecution and repression when viewed beside the homoerotic paintings.
The screens are hollow, and door-like opening sits in the bottom and top center of each panel. Each frame is attached to its neighbor with two-way polished hinges, which suggests another configuration that is possible and yet impossible. These works suggest functionality, and yet it is hard to determine what their function could be.
The two-way bending of the screens is also in its own subtle way suggestive, as is the impotence of the hollow screens, which can obscure nothing.
The ink wash drawings in the hallway are hung high above doorways (as is in the style of Whistler himself) and are easy to miss. These seem at odds with the rest of the show in terms of style, but the subject matter is what brings them in line. Yet another doorway is suggested, only this time it could almost be an elegant carved-wood closet, which when read amongst the rest of the show, speaks volumes.
This show is one that promotes much further discovery, and quiet contemplation. It is powerful in its coyness, and in its subtlety.
Paul P's The Rex Prisms runs until April 24th at Maureen Paley
http://www.maureenpaley.com/exhibitions/future/paul-p-the-rex-prisms
by Benjamin Murphy
