You wouldn’’t think that work that draws from the genre of hippie shit would end up being so successful, and yet it undoubtedly is. Of course, when an artist can bring together as many textures in a painting as Sanditz does, and manage to unify them, it probably shouldn’’t be a surprise at all. Her paintings are uncommonly clever, surprising and playful.
Given the title and success of Organized Living, it is perhaps redundant to say that the show is cohesive, but it is easy to forget that this is no small task for an artist. Think of all the albums you own, and how many of them are arranged perfectly or without songs you consistently skip. Yeah, not very many, and you can apply this same principle to an exhibition. In some sense you have to think that since the paintings takes inspiration from track housing, the show would be a failure were it not cohesive.
The only real criticism I have of the exhibition is that the Sanditz has used Thomas Kinkade as fodder for the work, and frankly, I’ve talked to enough artists who are making work inspired by the guy that I think it’s a little old at this point. I’ve never thought that Thomas Kinkade planned living is that interesting in the hands of artists, and besides, Sanditz weirdo interpretations of housing and landscape, are. While it is hard to know for certain without talking to the artists, it seems unlikely given what the work looks like for Kinkade to be anything but incidental inspiration. And to my mind, that’s the way it should be.
Lisa Sanditz, Organized Living, CRG Gallery
Through October 29, 2005
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