Tom Judd | The World Is Flat
May 19 – June 18, 2011
Chapter 2: You Don’t Even Know
The improvisational nature of Tom Judd’s paintings is unmistakable. Their energy and theatrical magic represent a world that does not so much discuss any particular subject as much as capture the idea of creating something.The making of mysterious images, not just precise ideas, is the raw brilliance that lies at the core of Judd’s art making. Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., former Director of the Heard Museum, describes the work as “… hard to pin down, slippery to grasp.” This quality remains one of Judd’s greatest strengths. The blurring of high and low art through layering classical subject matter with primitive image-making techniques and pop cultural imagery brings viewers a ‘healthy sense of being’, a self-evident dialogue with the limitations of “clarity”. In this exchange, Judd’s installation, collage and painting often reveal a melancholy or nostalgia led by the vigor of his pictorial vision within a contemporary context. To view filmmaker John Thornton’s latest video on the artist, please visit, Tom Judd, The World Is Flat.