Torey Thornton, tricks and strokes (from a phenomenological perspective)
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- Torey Thornton, How White Does It Need To Be, 2013. Acrylic paint, spray paint, graphite, and collage on paper, 36 x 24 inches.
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- Torey Thornton, Glassed In Wet Horizon With Endless Shade, 2013, Acrylic, nail polish, construction paper, and collage on poster board mounted to wood, 22 x 28, inches 55.9 x 71.1 cm. Courtesy of Rody Gallery.
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- Torey Thornton, Unmashed Bowl #1, 2013, Mixed media and collage, on paper, 26 x 16.5 inches
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- Torey Thornton, I Know You Like Fish and All, But This Is Just Soft, 2013. Acrylic paint, spray paint, cat hair, graphite and collage on paper, 47.5 x 36 inches.
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- Torey Thornton, Untitled Modern Country, 2013 Acrylic, spray paint, and collage on paper, 34.75 x 45.75 inches, 88.3 x 116.2 cm. Courtesy of OhWow, Los Angeles.
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- Torey Thornton, Blue Peahead With Girly Raincoat, 2013. Acrylic, spray paint and collage on wood panel, 54 x 46 inches.
What makes Torey Thornton’s mixed media two dimensional artworks so appealing isn’t the fact that they are colorful or apparently driven by a funky instinct devoted to the expressionistic form. On the contrary what really makes the difference is, once again, the related information.
In effect, by googling his name, the viewer inevitably comes across a series of videos that celebrate his freestyle biking. This kind of info is definitely more colorful, dangerous, brave and stylish than the article on Forbes quoting him among the 30 under 30 creatives of the future, or the announcement of the artist’s upcoming solo shows in Los Angeles (Oh Wow) and in Paris (TORRI galerie).
As phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty wrote in 1944 in his “Cezanne’s Doubt”, the artistic experience is one with the life experience: “the truth – claimed the French philosopher – is that that work to be done called for that life”. And today, we add, life and art are endlessly merged together by the web in an information oriented perspective. Hence, enjoy Thornton’s tricks and don’t ask too much to his painting, it would be a mistake to consider it self contained.
July 17, 2015
