TURNS THE COUNTRY ON!

Half Gallery announces “Turns the Country On!“, a duo show by Emiliana Henriquez and Eric McHenry. The exhibition attempts to disavow Currin of that notion.

July 4 - July 15, 2024

John Currin once argued that no masterpiece could be made in a democracy because great art requires a level of subterfuge or repression. These two painters bring humor, absurdity, and subversion to a nation increasingly fractured. They look to the past and they look abroad for a balm to this burlesque of discord we find in our culture.

Emiliana’s “Carried Away” explores the psychological paradox of being simultaneously propelled towards a destination while feeling the need to pull back. Inspired by her trip to North Africa, it reflects a desire to capture and convey the essence of a an alien environment.

“As a Westerner,” explains the artist, “I absorb these new explorations and translate them into imagery and storytelling, conveying the emotional resonance of this unfamiliar land.”

In his haunting picture “Hash Dream,” Eric depicts a timeless nocturne tripping out on the beach, influenced by the drunks and pipe smokers in 17th century paintings by Adriaen van Ostade and Adriaen Brouwer. In “Car Bridge,” the painter instead channels Magritte (and maybe a little Neil Jenney) giving a wink at the Michael Heizer boulder behind LACMA.

We see a burnt out car chassis wedged between two California desert stones. Maybe it speaks to the car wreck of political turmoil we find ourselves surrounded by? Or maybe it’s just for looks? Either interpretation feels resoundingly American.