Life After People

New York artist Bradley Castellanos’ Retreating features a cabin set in the woods, three hunters out front sitting before a fire. It's got cinematic quality, a theatrical air that leans into animation. Everything is slightly off, a little too rich, a little too dreamy: the fire, the glow from the house, the cabin’s wood siding, and, the weirdest part, the three hunters relaxing in their cheap outdoor chairs — they’re just gone. Shadows, with sharp outlines and darkened interiors. It’s like we’ve been plopped down in the middle of a story, but its narrative — we're not long for this Earth? — remains a mystery. It’s a disquieting tableau, and you want to know more; not only about the work's plot but also Castellanos' technique. It's pretty brilliant: The artist applies layers of paint and pools of reflexive resin to photo collages. The evocative results in the exhibit “North Woods” tend toward the decayed, the abandoned, and the pastoral, with any people previously populating the scenes excised into black, featureless outlines. They're just gone.
Feb. 4-March 13, 2010