The explanation is in the labrynth of the mind. And wheather you want to or not, that's exactly where you'll get lost. In his latest exhibtion 'Prick of conscience" at F&F Gallery in NY, American artist Keegan McHargue transports us into a Kaleidoscope of visual stories in which any attempt at making sense of things only leads to ambiguity and surprises of the subconcious.
Keegan only needs minimal cues from which to build whirling worlds of imagery. Their origin is the most unpredictable: ancient Chinese illustrations, designs from an old Czech book, anecdotes on the origins of calligraphy.
Keegan makes his way through a jungle of visual information in search of the seed that will ripen into his paintings and from which he can grow another decorative forest.
The show's curator, Ross Simonini, explains how keegan sometimes brings his compositions to life by using a Kaoss pad, a musical device that is able to take the smallest sound and turn it into hours of sonic constructions and distortions.
During this preparatory process, the artist uses a vocabulary of symbols able to subconsciously stimulate desire, compulsion and awe.
Each image has been compacted, distilled, and brought to its essential function, like many icons that compose a liquid puzzle, in which each space and each story flows in the same direction. That's when Keegan rapidly executes the work with a single coat of paint, light and precise.