Melissa Oresky at the Hyde Park Art Center
Melissa Oresky, “Double Jointed Landscape,” 2012. Acrylic and collage on paper, 179 x 15 in.
Though Melissa Oresky has been dubbed a painter’s painter, her latest exhibition “Trail” at the Hyde Park Art Center exhibits only collage and animation. Since 2005, Oresky has developed sketch book studies, experimental collages, large landscape compositions, as well as the show’s namesake “Trail,” a digital animation, in conjunction with her painting practice.
Oresky’s evocative approach is evident in the psychedelic colors that vibrate in her large collage “Studio Landscape” (2009-2012). The monumental collage depicts abstract mountains through a dense layering of paper and paint. The depth of light and color echo throughout the synthetic landscapes of the rest of the show.
“Double Jointed Landscape” (2010) reflects the ambiguous symmetry of a Rorschach test. The odd dimensions, uncanny symmetry and almost musical repetition are a static precursor to the animated collage “Trail.”
“Trail” (2012) is Oresky’s first experiment in digital animation with an electric rock soundscape designed by Zak Boerger. As the animation progresses, the perspective of the viewer becomes increasingly distorted, and appears to glitch as the music composition climaxes. “Trail” is both hypnotic and aggressive — the hard sounds of electric guitar, brass instruments and beating drums combined with disorienting first-person-perspective animation evoke an anxious state in the viewer.
“Trail” opens a window onto Oresky’s playful experience of looking. The logic of her visual language — the relationship of color, form and composition and the human perception — drives her work beyond formal questions to affect the viewer’s psyche. Oresky work relies on practice rather than theory, seeing rather than knowing, hence, her acquired affection from painters.
Melissa Oresky: Trail
May 6 – August 19, 2012
Hyde Park Art Center
5020 S. Cornell Avenue
