The Company of Men
June 2 - July 9, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, June 10, 6-9pm
Opening Reception: Friday, June 10, 6-9pm
The Company of Men, an exhibition by George Towne, is a subjective perception of masculine menʼs desirability and beauty. The artistʼs 2007 painting, Fire Island- Sunset (Study), is similar to the Romantic painting, The Monk by the Sea, by Caspar David Friedrich. Each painting represents the emphasis of aesthetic experience, whether it is the playground of Fire Island for gay men as depicted in Fire Island-Sunset (Study) or an allegory of nature versus human in The Monk by the Sea. The paintings are a catalyst for each artistʼs maturity and therefore create an existential epiphany.
Through the reflection of his sexual identity, Towne was able to develop a true passion for male portraitures. The oil paintings synthesize the polemics of a gay male gaze. Towneʼs juxtaposition of men in blunt and provocative poses with that of nudity and tenderness is aesthetically visceral. The paintings are an outlet for Towne to release a liquid flow out of a tube onto a canvas, therefore implicating his desire for these masculine men. Through an abjection of masculinity, Towne displays the social construct of how gay men are often perceived to have a masculine corporeal selfmisrelation. The release of the paint and the rendered context empower gay menʼs masculinity and deconstructs perceptions of identity and alterity.
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