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Selwyn Rodda @ roomartspacenyc, May 26 – June 5, 2018

I heard about an art opening last May through a Facebook friend, Philip Nikolayev, and from the painting he included with the invitation, I was very interested. And I almost went, but at the last minute I was asked to substitute for a teacher in an afternoon class and time became problematic. I felt bad about it and messaged the artist that I was sorry I’d missed the opening, but I planned to see the show. “Come on June 4th,” he invited: “We’ll be having a little party the day before it closes.”

I talked my husband Akram into going; he too liked the painting on the invitation so it didn’t take much coaxing. The show was curated by Lorene Taurerewa, who runs the gallery, which was a small, but intimate space that was excellent for looking at the surreal landscapes where something intense is happening or in stasis, a world of metamorphic shapes that holds the viewer caught in the moment it creates.

There was a painting Akram liked, Insalubrious Salutations, where a huge abstract monkey, coming together or apart, was hovering above a medieval building where Dante might come walking out, with something organic in its middle, perhaps the beginning of a heart. I liked a painting, Dream Egress, where a dreaming severed head has opened its mouth, and a pink animal, perhaps a dog or deer, like a half formed word is slipping out. These paintings aren’t for those who scare easily; but what makes you uncomfortable can be an epiphany. I like the paintings a lot.

Below are some links that will get you closer to the artist, Selwyn Rodda, and his work. Enjoy.


Lean Pink Encounter


Image


Bimorph and One Another


Insalubrious Salutations


Thew


Donkey


Dream Egress


Sussurrus


Every Morning Something New


Roomartspacenyc Gallery:

http://roomartspacenyc.com/exhibitions/fables-survival-recent-paintings-selwyn-rodda


A conversation with Selwyn Rodda:

http://roomartspacenyc.com/view/863


More work by Selwyn Rodda:

http://roomartspacenyc.com/artists/selwyn-rodda


Selwyn Rodda

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