Leon Richmond’s Theater of The Absurdo

AUGUST 14 - SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

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L AW R E N C E A R T S C E N T E R

Leon Richmond’s

Theater of The Absurdo

Winnebago, Go, Go!

Paper collage & digital imaging on cardboard thrift store print painting 2020 39” x 59w” $800

Attack of The Colossal Empire Builders

Paper collage, digital imaging, color markers, black ink, color pencils, bolts & washers on cardboard thrift store print painting 2019 41h” x 54w” $800

Why is when, and now is why, and we will ALWAYS want, AND all is “What the holy fuck!?”

Never has this been an obstacle for lucid critical or crucial thought for whom the dummbbells toll in the skies of material wantonness. Q: How did we even get here?

The needs, creeds and greeds of all the wants are assembled in this body of work. Faux luxury facilitated by dead corporate machines like Sears, JC Penny’s and Montgomery Wards (fast forward> AMAZON!!!) with 1200 page catalogs are a good place to begin. Paper bricks printed on glossy non-archival paper layered to the heavens for empire building. If aliens from outer space were to visit us right now (and PLEASE help us now!), many of their questions could be answered in these consumer bibles.

By the process of cultural anthropology, many of these cheap consumer goods have been given a new life, again to adorn the walls and tables of mainstream America. Core samples have been drilled in these non-fine art things and born again from merely rummaging through the grave yards of consumable “goods” re-swapped for more $$ in the stores of thrift and performing fleas. The artist has found inspiration in the cheap stuff of yester-year, thusly re-arting the stuff that was mass-produced to give the façade of style and class. So hurry! We’re running out of stuff fast!

The white middle/upper/other classes examined have been recorded in both the good and bad books of history, thusly flushed out the birth canals of the unimaginative landfills (progress). Facsimiles with objective meanings defy our understanding in the rubble now, yet provide proof-positive of who we were and mostly still want to be. So uselessly useful in their time now they become “utilitarian fine art” again for their utilitarian purpose in the third place. Artistic alchemical license has freely given the artist a full-on-all-out-all-American stratagem with these junk store findings. America in its most peculiar vintage hour… American at its final artistic process…

So for now, we look to the past for where we went wrong, right and/or left. Based on the hunting and gathering of antiquated pictorial evidence, allegorical signifiers, aggressive branding, and personal insider insights, observable clues are given in an absurdist, unflinching and often lowbrow way for your viewing entertainment. To laugh or to cry?… You decide...

Travel in Cars and See America

Paper collage, linoleum, rat traps, four US $1 bills, dry transfer letters, black ink & color markers on thrift store shadow box 2019 27h” x 33w” x 3d” $800

Marlboro Red Kountry

Paper collage, digital imaging, plastic signage letters, color pencils & spray paint on cardboard thrift store print painting 2019 33h” x 51w” $700

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Robert Dohrmann received his MFA in Painting and Drawing in 1992 at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA. He is currently a Professor of Studio Arts at The University of Oklahoma. Dohrmann’s body of works over the years includes mixed media, collage, experimental video shorts and nonlinear interactive web art rooted in remix theory and practice.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am essentially a remix and mash up artist. Much like the appropriation artists of the late twentieth century (and going back as far as the DADA artists), I take/borrow/paraphrase useful imagery, often mid-century ephemera, recontextualize them, combine them with my own imagery, and re-distribute a finished work through various mediums. With deep roots in the copy-cut-and-paste tactics of the punk rock, do-it-yourself ethos, I freely find, clip and remediate the mediated landscape of my history and popular culture with thoughtful purpose. All of my works draw on an array of inspired American iconography to evoke viewer response to the above concepts. These culture-specific signifiers tend to impart a personal conviction as well as a familiarity to a wide audience. This verbal structure offers the viewer an index helping to illuminate or depict the meaning of the work. If my images do not appear to make sense at first, the relationships between them are nourished, and result in multiple layers of meaning when I am finally able to execute them effectively. ​

ART IS FOR EVERYONE

CALL 785.843.2787 VISIT 940 New Hampshire Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044 BROWSE lawrenceartscenter.org Located in historic downtown Lawrence, Kansas, the mission of the Lawrence Arts Center’s exhibitions program is to enrich the community by presenting the best in contemporary art and to actively engage audiences through multi-disciplinary exhibitions that question and inspire. To that end, the Arts Center features 20-25 exhibitions each year from diverse artists in all media, ranging from local preschool children to internationally known artists. Such richness reflects the community that the Arts Center serves. Many of the original artworks on display are available for purchase.

Learn more about the artists and their art by visiting our galleries and website.

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