Results of the headhunt
Solidly
rooted in the abstract, secure with traditional mediums and referencing
historical precedents as part of his daily art practice, Harold Klunder's
work, despite this directness, is as mysterious as the masks of primitive
people.
This selection of heads exudes a mysterious attraction like the gut
wrenching pull of an impossible seduction that comes with a love affair.
Because the works are seated within familiar formats of modernism and
because this is a route best understood by other artists, the appeal of a
Klunder is tinged by a particular brand of narcissism parented by creativity
and intellectualism. To 'catch' a Klunder requires the initiation that comes
from inclusion in the rarified club of those who understand the language of
abstract expressionism. If this comprehension is intuitive it is the
subjective response of a creative mind to the piece of art. If the
understanding is intellectual, it is swayed from the pursuit of unnecessary
objectivity towards a more visceral understanding of the work through the
adamant physicality. Either approach or, more likely a combination of both,
brings about the same result - a touch that awakens areas in the psyche that
needed the robust brush stroke or the painterly gesture in order to be
roused. Once wakened the draw to cross over from the confines of
individualism and into the realms of the rich unknown are hard to resist.
All that is part of the world of painting and drawing - the messiness, the
joy, the working out, the past imperfect that cries out to be held down with
a definitive “yes!” while the smell of oils and charcoal affect reason -
becomes irresistible.
Harold is an artist's artist. Standing in front of a Klunder is an
opportunity to understand the urge for abstraction. It is summed up simply
as 'freedom of expression'. A “Klunder” makes an artist out of a viewer for
he introduces a complicit atmosphere. Within these heads, there is the
visual documentation of a searching mind. There is the wrapping up of the
discovery, the point when the search has been satisfied and the case can be
closed, for this time, in this drawing, before the next search takes place.
Consumed by expression, Harold Klunder creates works on paper that are rife
with spirits, demons and psychological phantoms that present haunting auras
and leave a memorable after draft.
Copyright © 2006, Headbones Gallery, The Drawers
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