'Super Natural' John Alleyne at VAR Gallery

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Photo Via Var Gallery - Facebook

John Alleyne

John Alleyne at 'Super Natural' exhibit

Right out of the gate the current show at VAR Gallery on Fifth Street offers a touch and a flare that feels to be from beyond the Great Lakes drainage basin. The black and red palette; the gestural use of screen printing, the hip piles of supplemental apparel—all of it smacks of something warm-blooded, sweet-and-savory, and a little less soft and insulated than the typical Wisconsin fare.

And in fact, the exhibition, “Super Natural,” which runs through February 17, features the work of John Alleyne, an interdisciplinary artist from the Caribbean island of Barbados, and currently based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Gallerist Josh Hintz visited New Orleans and the studios of Mr. Alleyne on several occasions before arranging to bring his work to Milwaukee. Those familiar with Hintz’s program will appreciate his commitment to building bridges between ours and communities beyond. And those who aren’t should be glad he does and did. “Super Natural” features dozens of gorgeous mixed-media works by Alleyne that capture a 360-degree view of Alleyne’s omnivorous practice and unique artistic vision.

Entering from the West end of the gallery, we see three satiny cloaks hanging underneath the sans-serif title text for the show with the nonchalance of winter accessories in a Brookfield mudroom. However, those garments-cum-art-objects boogie beyond domesticity, and immediately transport us from Milwaukee to an exotic foyer beyond: Broome, Carnaby, or Magazine Streets, perhaps. We suddenly feel cocked, crisp, and cool in a way we didn’t when we parallel parked outside Fuel Cafe on Fifth Street in Walker’s Point. And then we’re ready for Alleyne’s army of artfully handsome screen prints to take us for a ride. Which they do and do with swagger.

Submerged Portraits

From afar Alleyne’s prints lean toward the formal, though they don’t finish there. If distance offers slapdash gestural abstraction, the arms of the show–the garments, the vibe, the attitude–guide one’s assumptions gently back into representation and figuration. And as we dig further into the show, individual characters begin to introduce themselves.

One of the most visually powerful of these submerged portraits is In this world, but not of it (Cynthea) The work employs the stark red and black color scheme that separates out the obscured portrait alongside an image of an independent pair of eyes. And an errant number 3, that functions like a red herring. These elements mix in the same way Jasper Johns’ did in his Number Paintings: straddling the line between image, icon, symbol and visceral connection in a way that forces one to consider the relationship between representation and what’s represented. Cynthea’s gathered hair and hoop earring confer a humanity on the individual that brings her half-turned face into the world of connected meaning even while the superimposed face on top frustrates it. A number versus numbers; a person versus people; a tragedy versus a statistic in graphic form.

An adjacent piece titled Heads of Youthful Heroes offers a larger and more complex vision of that similar strategy. The canvas grabs the viewer in the manner that a 1948 Jackson Pollock grabs; as a snarl of intertwined dynamic gestures building to an allover composition. Only Alleyne’s collage of paper, graphite, and oil stick resounds as a nest of tracery and detail that finally secures and elevates the two individual figures at its center. So rather than abandoning the human element with form, it retrieves it and elevates it. 

Alleyne’s “Super Natural” features dozens of surprises in the same vein. And the vibe of Var’s space complements his artistic gifts. There’s a video, t-shirts and all kinds of material jujitsu to admire across the breadth of the incredible works in the show. Color, craft, and pop … with substance. They’ll engage, puzzle, and grab you. But they’ll also warm you, like hot food, whisky, and Tabasco, from the inside out, while your Wisconsin winter coats do the same from the outside in. Bone-to-bosom warmth is apparently our seasonal gift from Mr. Hintz and Mr. Alleyne. Thanks guys.

Event Listings: December 17 – December 23

Milwaukee Art Museum

• Drop-In Art Making: Kohl’s Art Studio
• Sunday, December 17, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Gener8or

• Ask Me Anything (on-line) www.gener8or.com
• Monday, December 18, 1–2 p.m.

Milwaukee Public Library East Branch

• Art For All!
• Tuesday, December 19, 5:30–7:45 p.m.

Lynden Sculpture Garden

• Lynden Art Club
• Wednesday, December 20, 3 p.m.

Charles Allis Art Museum

• Charles Allis - Villa Terrace Holiday Party
• Thursday, December 21, 6–9 p.m.

MOWA on the Lake

• Meet and Greet with Katherine Steichen Rosing
• Thursday, December 21, 5–7 p.m.

Mitchell Street Arts

• Open Critique
• Thursday, December 21, 6–7:30 p.m.

Cedarburg Art Museum

• Christmas at CAM
• Friday, December 22, 6–9 p.m.

Milwaukee Art Museum

• Drop-In Art Making: Kohl’s Art Studio
• Saturday, December 23, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Milwaukee Art Museum

• Story Time in the Galleries
• Saturday, December 23, 10:30–11 a.m.

Milwaukee Art Museum

• Drop-In Tour: Architecture and Collection Highlights
• Saturday, December 23, 2–3 p.m.

Saint Kate, the Arts Hotel

• AIR Time Art & Studio Tour
• Saturday, December 23, 5:30 p.m.