Here’s a cheerful thought for you: how will you be remembered when you are dead? Hopefully not an immediate consideration, but a question that bears pause for thought on occasion. The answer, one imagines, will be fondly — especially among those who know us well — but with so much of our social interaction taking place digitally these days, it’s also worth considering how we present ourselves online. How closely does your online persona match your real one? What sort of a face do you show to the world, and what kind of digital legacy will you leave behind?
Questions, questions, and they are under investigation by Craig Redman (whose name is more commonly known when conjoined with Craig & Karl partner Karl Maier) in his exhibition Third Parties. The Australian-born, New York-based artist has, over the course of his practice so far, developed a bold graphic style that lends itself to depictions of people as avatars. Redman’s partially-obscured faces (portraits of his friends and acquaintances — Karl, of course, making a cameo) invite contemplation of how much our online personalities are abstracted, and how far we can carry that process through before it is no longer authentically “us”. Third Parties continues at One Grand Gallery, Portland, Oregon, until 30 May.
‘David (Green & Blue)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
Left: ‘Timo (Orange & Pink)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
Right: ‘Cris (Blue & Purple)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
‘Adam (Red & Blue)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
Left: ‘Karl (Flesh & Red)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
Right: ‘Melissa (White & Grey)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
Left: ‘Alannah (Yellow & White)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
Right: ‘Sam (Pink & Green)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
‘Sam (Pink & Green)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
‘Timo (Orange & Pink)’, 2015
36 x 48 inch, acrylic on woodpanel
