Portrait #1 2022

Adam Caldwell made this painting called 'Portrait #1' sometime in the 20th century, and it's really got me thinking about how we patch together meaning from fragments. Caldwell uses a collage-like approach, layering images and textures. The red bar across the eyes is so bold; it's censorship and a symbol of a blocked view. I love how the stars above the face feel like they are part of a projected image, like maybe the face is at the movies, it gives the painting a dreamlike, kind of unreal quality. The texture is uneven, with bits of paper and paint creating a surface that feels both intentional and spontaneous. There's this crowd at the bottom, tiny figures with flags. They seem to be looking up at the face, which looms like a billboard, almost like they are worshipping it. This piece feels like it's in conversation with the work of someone like Peter Kennard, who uses photomontage to create images of political dissent. But where Kennard is direct and angry, Caldwell is more poetic, more about ambiguity and the fractured nature of identity.