James White
Max Wigram Gallery, London, UK
Framed by shell-shock markets and shock-value artists, James White’s new show at Max Wigram - his third at the gallery - offers a staid anomaly: a scrupulously constructed picture of the unremarkable. Nothing particularly innovative or surprising jumps out here. White’s brand of photorealism is meticulous though hardly groundbreaking, when placed against such recent reappraisals as last year’s ‘The Painting of Modern Life’ at the Hayward Gallery. White’s focus on banal subjects treads a well-worn path, as does his emphasis on formalist concerns. Yet in its very blasé character, White’s paintings manage to strike a chord.
The exhibition comprises two new series: ‘The Rough with the Smooth’ (2008) and ‘Relationships’ (2006-8). In both, White chooses unheroic objects for subject matter - sinks, aeroplane trays, chocolate bars - which he paints onto plywood sheets and places in Perspex vitrines. Presented in this way, the images’ identity becomes increasingly slippery. The glossy Perspex emulates photography’s smooth yet intangible picture plane, while the monochrome palette accentuates the sculptural side of White’s resolutely domestic subjects. Glimpses of brushwork emerge upon closer examination, only heightening this confusion over medium. Suddenly, hooked by formalist concerns, we find ourselves fascinated by the daily sights that usually fail to snag the eye.
In Broken (2008), a shattered wine glass has a statuesque beauty, offset by its lack of psychological or emotional significance. Likewise, in Dad’s Deck (2008), the reflective cover of a record player generates flat expanses and volumes that contain a purely formal appeal. If it is said that photographs have no ‘surface’, here, as the series’ titles suggest, images are all about surfaces, textures and formal relationships.
In Twix (2008), a stained white table with its cheap chocolate and radio has a clichéd air. We have seen this average scene too many times for it to produce even a spark of interest. Yet in this lies a certain appeal: as a record of our society’s profoundly blasé attitude - towards art as much as the objects we encounter on a daily basis - White’s image achieves an eerie poignancy.
The smaller upstairs space contains three works from the ‘Relationships’ series, which White based upon snapshots taken during a solitary flight from Berlin to London. Again the emphasis is on the casually expended, such as carefully rendered coffee cups and wrappers on an aeroplane tray. These images are less successful than those downstairs. The deep shadows and staged compositions again attempt to add a psychological element, which feels forced and self-conscious. In Relationships I (2008), for instance, White depicts a used creamer container resting on the corner of an otherwise empty tray. The solitary container presents itself as a forlorn object, yet the result simply feels contrived. If only White had stuck to his shiny Twix bars, blissfully devoid of emotions.
Katherine Holmgren
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