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Art Review: Phoenix 20
C.E. Gilroy
Photo by Tyson Crosbie
Tyson Crosbie, in my mind, takes on Phoenix like an urban Indiana Jones, armed with a camera instead of a whip. What is it that drives Crosbie to unearth these images like a modern day anthropologist? Is it the ever elusive search for self in the context of society itself? Observing this collection necessitates commitment. The dialogue between artist and observer requires an ability to enter into a shared post-Romantic desire to contemplate the vast and surreal through the smallest details.
In Jack Matirko's introduction to Tyson Crosbie's Phoenix 20, he relates a story of modern art that is all too common. A man owns an over priced, abstract piece which communicates nothing, and inspires nothing. While good art involved the observer as a communicator in creating meaning, too often modern art presents itself like the Emperor's new clothes. Because of this, I, like Jack, am fairly skeptical when it comes to modern art, especially the abstract. Let me assure you, Tyson Crosbie is not in league with these sham artists. Perhaps this is why his collection inspires such depth of thought. Compared to many of his contemporaries, Crosbie is the wheat separated from the chaff. Simply put, I love this collection.
Phoenix 20, is a tremendous success in theory and aesthetics. While there can be no doubt that these photos are beautiful, moving, and brilliant, Crosbie's true success lies in his ability to transfer the authority of meaning to his audience. That isn't to insinuate any laziness on the artists behalf; quite the contrary. Crosbie's tireless search for urban beauty produces a magnificent filter through which the artist and the observer can communicate.
The artist is not the same man from one snap to the next, nor is the observer as an individual each time he or she blinks, while observing the images found. If some great eternal truth were found in these images, then the artist would cease, and the observer would look no more. Rather, these images create a dialogue of individuals in flux, within a society in rebirth and decay. They exist of out time, and out of context. Crosbie creates a space in which a stance can be taken—and then retaken, in interpreting the consequences of modernity.
Disengaged from their contexts, these images provoke deep emotion, yet dictate no one specific response. A repeated viewing reshapes, reworks, and deepens the connection of the observer to each image, as good art should. Phoenix 20 is an excellent addition to any collection. Critics, artists, and casual art-fanciers will find something fulfilling in these pages which can be enjoyed for years to come.
[Note: Tyson's Crosbie's series Phoenix 20 is available by contacting the artist directly through his website tysoncrosbie.com, or by ordering a book of the series at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/243265]
In Jack Matirko's introduction to Tyson Crosbie's Phoenix 20, he relates a story of modern art that is all too common. A man owns an over priced, abstract piece which communicates nothing, and inspires nothing. While good art involved the observer as a communicator in creating meaning, too often modern art presents itself like the Emperor's new clothes. Because of this, I, like Jack, am fairly skeptical when it comes to modern art, especially the abstract. Let me assure you, Tyson Crosbie is not in league with these sham artists. Perhaps this is why his collection inspires such depth of thought. Compared to many of his contemporaries, Crosbie is the wheat separated from the chaff. Simply put, I love this collection.
Phoenix 20, is a tremendous success in theory and aesthetics. While there can be no doubt that these photos are beautiful, moving, and brilliant, Crosbie's true success lies in his ability to transfer the authority of meaning to his audience. That isn't to insinuate any laziness on the artists behalf; quite the contrary. Crosbie's tireless search for urban beauty produces a magnificent filter through which the artist and the observer can communicate.
The artist is not the same man from one snap to the next, nor is the observer as an individual each time he or she blinks, while observing the images found. If some great eternal truth were found in these images, then the artist would cease, and the observer would look no more. Rather, these images create a dialogue of individuals in flux, within a society in rebirth and decay. They exist of out time, and out of context. Crosbie creates a space in which a stance can be taken—and then retaken, in interpreting the consequences of modernity.
Disengaged from their contexts, these images provoke deep emotion, yet dictate no one specific response. A repeated viewing reshapes, reworks, and deepens the connection of the observer to each image, as good art should. Phoenix 20 is an excellent addition to any collection. Critics, artists, and casual art-fanciers will find something fulfilling in these pages which can be enjoyed for years to come.
[Note: Tyson's Crosbie's series Phoenix 20 is available by contacting the artist directly through his website tysoncrosbie.com, or by ordering a book of the series at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/243265]