Little Joe Picking His Nose 1947

Steve Wheeler made "Little Joe Picking His Nose" with screenprint on paper. The flat blocks of color are so graphic, and the shapes lock together like a puzzle, each one defined with a hard edge. The palette of teals and grays feels so mid-century and the forms create a kind of Cubist face, or maybe a machine? I love the way the artist flattens the picture plane with uniform color and tone. It is like the areas have been carefully considered, almost like a map, except the topography of the map is an emotional one. The small I-shape right of center seems to float and the dark black surrounding it gives it space to breathe, like a thought or a memory. Wheeler’s prints remind me a bit of Stuart Davis's paintings: an American modernism informed by vernacular culture, and open to many interpretations. Like much of the best art, Wheeler’s print allows for both simplicity and complexity.