Geoff McFetridge – Rust Drinkers

Exhibitions

Geoff McFetridge
Rust Drinkers
Dec. 15, 2022 - Feb. 22, 2023

Featured Artwork

Louis Buhl & Co. is pleased to present an exhibition with Geoff McFetridge, opening December 10th, 2022. McFetridge’s stylized paintings draw on elements of traditional painting, and on the artist’s own history as a designer. His works feature spare compositions, bold color palettes, and human figures who occasionally contort into repeated motifs and patterns. For his exhibition titled Rust Drinkers, McFetridge presents a series of new paintings and sculptures that are drawn from personal memories and explore formal aspects of creation.  

Much of McFetridge’s work conjures figures into simple and digestible shapes; often, they appear to be floating in space, giving little context to the audience outside of their interactions with one another. The paintings created for Rust Drinkers are an exception, centering the figures around automobiles. Rust a reference to car parts and manufacturing and also a passively harmful substance if consumed, the show’s title alludes to our steady intake of benign influence overtime: how much rust can you drink; how much glue can you sniff; how many times can you get hit by a car before getting hurt? One painting presents a moment of intensity as a man gets hit by a car, however, McFetridge postures the compromised figure as if he is peacefully levitating, ironically diffusing the tragedy or literalness of the image. Through such juxtapositions, the audience is prompted to puzzle together the scenes through our literacy and understanding of comic language and science. 

Fundamentally, McFetridge creates a multitude of apparent reflections through the cars’ surfaces—mirrors, windows, shiny paint finishes—with which he is able to depict two things happening in one image. The artist likens this “double-sided landscape” pretense to a level of consciousness or understanding, explaining how “the formal act of creating these illusions forges a powerful resonance; the toying with perception evokes [sensation] and [devises] a reason for these paintings to exist.” Growing this concept, McFetridge debuts a series of sculptures, some supporting the table amongst which others are displayed, creating a presence above and below the surface and cueing the viewer’s movement of both eye and body to amass a comprehensive grasp of their existence. A mix of wooden and aluminum sculptures are presented, the result of months of experimentation as McFetridge navigated this new leg of his practice, motivated to mine the same customary subjects in a new way. The artist is drawn to the many unknowns about himself, and works to uncover them by evolving formal techniques or changing the mechanical aspect of the process—how his hands are moving, how the material works, what tools are needed—so as to expand his scope of understanding. 

Despite the broad appeal of their graphic qualities, the works displayed in Rust Drinkers are chiefly expressions of personal memories. Growing up in Calgary, Canada, McFetridge notes how cars were a central part of his upbringing, the need for transportation in his town dictating most everything he could and could not do. The same goes for a place like Detroit and its surrounding neighborhoods, the show an homage of sorts to suburbia and McFetridge’s experiences growing up in such an environment. Furthermore, the introduction of the sculptures offers the audience a unique insight into McFetridge’s imagination, as their three-dimensional quality allows us to engage with their forms from multiple perspectives.

Geoff McFetridge: Rust Drinkers will be on view at Louis Buhl & Co. from December 10th, 2022 through February 22nd, 2023.

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