Quotable art makes pictures out of words
Maynard Monrow’s exhibition is on display through May 27.
There are no pictures in “Under the Influence,” Maynard Monrow’s exhibition at Gavlak Gallery in Palm Beach.
Monrow works exclusively with words.
His pithy sayings are displayed in standardized white letters on black, gray or pink cafe boards. (Cafe boards are those black signs with white letters that communicate information such as “wait to be seated” at restaurants or room schedules at convention centers.)
His art has appeared in settings as diverse as Ruffian’s spring 2015 ready-to-wear line and a billboard in a Los Angeles-based alternative art space’s public art series.
It conveys messages such as “Still life composed of the weight of oneself ” or “Still life soliciting the cliche to turn another trick.”
“Still lifes are a classically conventional art form that is for the most part pictorial,” Monrow said from his home in New York. “I recontextualize them and make the viewer imagine the ingredi- ents. They paint their own pictures and it’s unique to everyone.”
Even when the works don’t reference still lifes, they’re always provocative and humorous. Pieces might advise viewers to “Never a l l ow de b t o r doubt i mpede ones motion” or “Quote me if Im wrong.”
Monrow likes the tactile quality of cafe boards and making art out of ready-made objects. “In a way, I’m serving it,” he said. “It’s intellectual food for thought. I’m a provocateur of cogitation.”
Reading the works of great thinkers and writers inspires him, as do current events. “I enjoy thinking,” he said. “It’s my studio.”
The placement of the words is as important as their meanings.
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