LondonArtGirl

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08 March 2007

'Sugar' by Kent Christensen at Eleven Gallery



Over the past year, I’ve walked by Eleven Gallery many times without ever stepping through the front door. Located in the outskirts of Chelsea, the modest space is unassuming from the outside and a little off the gallery-hopping path. However, once inside, I soon discovered that this is my type of gallery. Not too big or too pretentious, Eleven Gallery showcases contemporary and emerging artists without the requisite attitude and extortionate prices so common in today’s art market. Moreover, I really like the majority of the artists they represent – a major bonus in my book.

As a lifelong fan of Wayne Thiebaud’s appetising depictions of food and sweets, I was easily drawn into Kent Christensen’s world. When you walk into the gallery, you are instantly surrounded by delicious and tempting treats skilfully depicted on the 20 small to medium sized canvases. However, there is more here than meets the eye. The artist uses mundane objects such as candy and baked goods to put forth a discussion on numerous topics such as gluttony, the obesity epidemic, high-art versus low-art, and art historical references. What I like about this show is that it offers the viewer some choices in respect to how they want to interact with the artwork. On the superficial level, the decorative pictures evoke feelings of nostalgia, comfort, and cravings. One could be fully satisfied with the canvases if they wanted to leave their experience at this point. But if the viewer goes deeper and uses a critical and art historical eye, they can almost hear the artist speaking to them about the serious and more thoughtful issues at play in the works. Like most things, the more you put into these works, the more you take away from them. There are some stand out pieces in this show such as “Ribbon Candy in a Tall Glass Vase”, “Cupcake”, “Macaroons”, and “The Green Jell-o” – all at attainable and collectible prices.

Cleverly, the gallery has a bowl of candy in the front window. I wonder how many people dip into that on their way out? Check out Sugar at Eleven Gallery before time runs out. www.elevenfineart.com

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You write very well.

7:34 PM  

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