Working from his industrial studio along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn Shi-Jia Chen’s most recent series, “after Picasso” realizes the master’s figurative paintings in sheet metal.
In Chen’s “Guernica, after Picasso” the horror of war that Picasso painted is created with rugged, rigid sheet metal that has been hammered out, sliced, chopped, cut and painted with gold leaf and spray paint to form three-dimensional wall hanging that has sharp edges, mangled body parts, twisted metal, limp bodies and opened mouthes seeming to screech into the air.
These visceral components are juxtaposed with the shining, shimmering and glowing gold leaf of sprinkled thoughout the composition. At the center bottom of the painting, a poignant and powerful deep red and yellow flower in full bloom is being clutched by a disembodied hand that is also holding a sword.
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