StarGods 2007

Curator: Wow, this is… intense! It's like staring into the heart of a supernova. Or maybe a particularly explosive candy factory? Editor: Exactly! That dynamism is classic Armstrong. We're looking at his 2007 mixed-media piece, StarGods, part of a private collection. It exemplifies his self-proclaimed style, Cosmic Extensionalism. Think Abstract Expressionism, but cranked up to eleven with the energy of the cosmos itself. Curator: Cosmic, indeed. It feels like a Jackson Pollock painting got into a fight with a disco ball and a box of crayons. The swirling lines and splatters – it's almost overwhelming, like trying to grasp the infinite. And the color palette – reds, yellows, splashes of pink and blue – is pure visual chaos! Editor: The seeming chaos is deliberate. Armstrong felt restricted by traditional artistic techniques and believed that spontaneous gestures allowed the pure, unfiltered subconscious to express itself. He talked about accessing a collective universal consciousness through his work. So, while it may appear random, there’s a system to this star madness! It is almost like automatic drawing, but through layers of acrylic paint, that allows each section to add and play on the next section. Curator: Okay, I can see that… Sort of. There are two larger, more defined circles near the top, almost like planetary forms. But that just makes me wonder, what did the gallery scene of the early 2000s make of this explosive style? Editor: Reception was mixed, as you can imagine. Armstrong, like many Abstract Expressionists before him, challenged conventional aesthetics and notions of control within the artistic process. Some found it profound, a visceral experience; others dismissed it as lacking structure or intellectual rigor. It all became more accepted later when many people realized the amount of time involved with his work, because each of the pieces needed many sections of curing and setting up to keep the artwork flowing and interesting. Curator: And that's the magic of art, isn't it? To polarize, provoke thought, challenge us to look beyond the surface. Even if that surface is a chaotic explosion of cosmic colours. Editor: Precisely. StarGods isn’t just a painting; it's an invitation. An invitation to consider the infinite possibilities of the universe – and perhaps, the boundless potential of the human mind itself. A really wild and vibrant journey into somewhere special.