Chris Trueman

“My body of work explores the idea of identity as the management of multiple micro identities. I approach my paintings as a fusion of essentialized and abbreviated styles, sourced from a modern painting history that include abstract expressionism, hard edged abstraction, architectural abstraction and pop art. The resulting product is a painting that is both a single object and a composite of multiple paintings.

This manner of working aligns itself with contemporary attitudes towards self-presentation. Social networking and web presence offer an unprecedented, semi-democratic distribution of persona management. At one time “image management” was the domain of politicians, actors and public figures, albeit now on a much smaller level, individuals are more greatly involved in how they present themselves to the world and the manner in which their assumed micro-identities are managed.

For painting, this means an awareness of its constructed nature as a distinct and unique combination of preexisting styles and elements. The painting presents as an amalgamation of represented sources and is read as both its parts and sum from a simultaneous semiotic and experiential point of view. The connection to a socialized aesthetic alludes to a seemingly generational ideology that supposes nearly anything is obtainable, accessible and available for use, though often decontextualized and with newly reassigned meaning.

Translated into popular culture, the phenomenon of Hipsterism is an aesthetically and attitudinally driven tendency that draws liberally from historicized style while leaving behind the original associations and beliefs in which the authentic style originated. My work seeks to exploit this inclination that more is more by indulging in stylistic freestyling, while questioning issues of organization, competition, dominance and prioritization.”

Chris is currently working on his MFA at the Claremont Graduate School in Southern California. Turnpike is from his most recent body of work.

• Artwork by: Chris Trueman
• http://www.christrueman.com/
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