James Rosenquist: Multiverse You Are, I Am

Its not news that James Rosenquist sees the universe as a vibrant if somewhat threatening place. He's been alluding to it since his earliest canvases. So the fact that his recent works at Acquavella Galleries would be meditations on its immensity is certainly fitting. 

What's unexpected is how personal these outward-looking works are. They were created in response to the 2009 brush fire that destroyed his Florida studio. Yes, they are about the enormity of our shared skies, but they are also more than that. It is Rosenquist's sky we're looking at, and we're transported through his gaze. He's showing us a world of fragmented wonder, and chaos, but one that's in no way removed from it's own implications. Still, in spite of their vastness of topic and temperament, these paintings have the sustaining spiritual core that is their humanness. They are reverential.

In the Rosenquist cosmos, spinning out of control and connectedness are part of the same continuum. In the grandest way possible, through the fracturing of our outer spaces, the artist reminds us there's not only a world outside the gallery walls, its one that exceeds the reach of social commentary, and is far beyond control.