Calvin Marcus “EVERYTHING GOING THROUGH ITSELF”. Exhibition view at C L E A R I N G, Brussels, 2020. Photography by Eden Krsmanovic. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus “EVERYTHING GOING THROUGH ITSELF”. Exhibition view at C L E A R I N G, Brussels, 2020. Photography by Eden Krsmanovic. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus “EVERYTHING GOING THROUGH ITSELF”. Exhibition view at C L E A R I N G, Brussels, 2020. Photography by Eden Krsmanovic. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus “EVERYTHING GOING THROUGH ITSELF”. Exhibition view at C L E A R I N G, Brussels, 2020. Photography by Eden Krsmanovic. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus “EVERYTHING GOING THROUGH ITSELF”. Exhibition view at C L E A R I N G, Brussels, 2020. Photography by Eden Krsmanovic. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus, Pink Landscape, 2020. Watercolor, oil, vinyl and emulsified gesso on linen/canvas blend. 79 x 101 1/2 in. Photography by Benjamin Baltus. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus, Folded Landscape & Parked Cars At Night, 2020. Watercolor, oil, vinyl, graphite, charcoal and emulsified gesso on linen/ canvas blend. 101 1/2 x 79 in. Photography by Benjamin Baltus. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus, Entertaining A Dog, 2020. Watercolor, oil, vinyl and emulsified gesso on linen/canvas blend. 101 1/2 x 79 in. Photography by Benjamin Baltus. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus, In The Distance From Above, 2020. Watercolor, oil, vinyl and emulsified gesso on linen/canvas blend. 101 1/2 x 79 in. Photography by Benjamin Baltus. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus, Beach Elephant, 2020. Watercolor, oil, vinyl and emulsified gesso on linen/canvas blend. 101 1/2 x 79 in. Photography by Benjamin Baltus. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus “EVERYTHING GOING THROUGH ITSELF”. Exhibition view at C L E A R I N G, Brussels, 2020. Photography by Eden Krsmanovic. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Calvin Marcus, Begonia
2020, Watercolor. Oil, vinyl and emulsified gesso on linen/canvas blend. 62 3/8 x 79 3/4 in. Photography by Benjamin Baltus. Courtesy of the artist and C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels.
Through a dozen large paintings, Marcus expands his series of fragmented self-contained narratives, offering many discreet happenings. Dreamlike images, large fields of color, haunting twists, and missing parts are the autonomous realities that make up the compositions. These disjointed moments are meant to burn brightly and expire as one moves between paintings.
Normal objects seem to unravel and lose their fixed proportions. Scale is twisted and used recklessly to turn banality into greatness. In one painting a silhouette of a frog observes a commercial jet crossing a purple smog-filled sky. Is the frog easier to empathize with than a human? We might think it’s longing for connection and has a deeper sense of self than seems possible. An elephant on vacation enjoys a coke on the beach while blue tides calmly wash ashore. Next, a sculptural event: a mass of veiny flesh is slowly turning itself inward, producing a protruding tongue of a tit that eclipses a recently mowed lawn. Opting for absurdity over formality, the paintings evoke sentimentality and challenge the interpretative experience of the viewers.
With each painting having been reduced to the essential, viewers can get to the core efficiently. Physically passing through the works while also sinking into their own minds, they enter a designated open field of meaning: a space within the medium where Calvin Marcus carves a new path.
