Mel Bochner (American, b. 1940)
Exasperations (2023)
9 Etchings with aquatint
22 x 30 inches (each)
Edition of 20
PRICE: on request
Exasperate, irritate, frustrate, infuriate, irk, vex, piss off…from the Latin exasperatus – “to roughen.”
Two Palms is pleased to announce a new series of etchings by Mel Bochner that expand on his much-lauded Exasperations series. These works grapple with the politics of language, the camouflage of hidden motives, and unspoken agendas. They examine direct, aggressive language as an expression of irritation, annoyance, vexation, and ill-humor at the state of the world.
Look Who’s Talking. I Don’t Want To Think About It. Seriously?
These phrases can be taken individually as if punctuating the end of a conversation or read as a dialogue.
Seriously?
So What.
It Could Be Worse.
Printed exclusively in Prussian Blue, each letter oozes with pigment, drips and smudges escaping the crisp edges of the typeface thereby emphasizing the material expression of their own execution. Meaning is both enhanced and obscured by Bochner’s technique, which invites the viewer to re-consider the ways in which we interpret language and image.
“His chosen expressions are meant to reflect, alternately, the rage and the disingenuousness of public speech in these dire times. The artist has a gift for identifying platitudes or expostulations that, in being isolated, become transformed—ambiguous or strange.” ~Jeffrey Weiss, ArtForum
