Shadow

Paradoxically, the most resolved impression of Jonathan Solo’s collaged drawings at Catharine Clark Gallery is one of deep ambiguity. In seven of the eight works on pristine cream-colored paper, figures float in space, performing enigmatic acts. In Removed (2010), for example, a lithe woman cradles a man’s decapitated head in her lap. Seated next to her is a headless slim form, but its body is female. Did the male head come from the female body, or did it fall from the open trapdoor that hovers above the figures? A floating trail of red and pink flowers provides no indication.

Such questions bubble up from each piece. The eyes and mouths of the figures are rendered in detail, but surrounding features are masked by a flat graphite silhouette, creating the “shadow” of the exhibition’s title. Are Solo’s actors concealed in darkness or in S&M fetish gear? Is the woman cradling the dismembered head a victim or a perpetrator? And is the figure in You can only hide for so long Ms. Tina Lohan (2010) holding an eyelash curler or a torture device? What in the world are these people doing?

This flurry of questions that arises should not imply that the work is opaque or tiresome. On the contrary, Loading (2010) is a fine example of Solo’s deft combination of collage and drawing to create an uncertain scene. In it, a slender model is poised composedly on the lip of a box filled with rosy hued flowers. Behind her, a man stuffs more flowers into a slit in her back. Both lock eyes with the viewer, but while her attitude is patient and dispassionate, he looks caught out and defiant.

Loading, 2010; collaged graphite drawings on paper; 41 x 31 ½ in. Courtesy of the Artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco.  

The smaller details create more tension: despite the slouchy elegance of the model’s bearing—slim hands resting gracefully on one thigh—her wall-eyed gaze and puckering mouth make a mockery of perfection. The model is so hollow that she must be stuffed, and a man is doing the stuffing. The show’s press release states that the exhibition comprises “all self-portraits,” derived from the Jungian archetype of “the shadow,” an embodiment of “everything that the subject refuses to acknowledge about himself, his shortcomings and repressed instincts.” Even so, this kind of image seems less focused on Solo in particular and more geared toward making a general commentary on contemporary fashion culture and gender relations.

Drip, 2010; collaged graphite drawings on paper; 15 7/8 x 13 ¼ in. Courtesy of the Artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco.

In each piece, the meticulous crafting of the figures and the absence of any other marks on the paper lend the work a clean peacefulness, the kind of floating sanitized space of science fiction. However, taking the exhibition as a whole, some aspects come off as formulaic, as though Solo decided on an algorithm for creating each piece: flowers + magazine eyes and lips + black mask or figure. Further, Solo’s use of the flower as a stand-in for blood, guts, semen, body parts, and rain alike is problematic, leading the viewer to wonder if it is a deliberate selection or simply a convenient, aesthetically appealing choice. On the other hand, these objections prove the smallest piece in the show to be the most intriguing. Drip (2010) has no flowers or seductive nudes. At the top of the paper, slender black fingers purse together and dangle a used condom. Farther down, at the bottom of the paper, there is a slight shadow. The tones and details of Drip are attractive, but what’s most engaging here is the artist’s cool conviction; since most of the paper is blank space, viewers question what they can’t see. Solo’s fastidiousness is in evidence here, too, but juxtaposed with the messy waste of the subject matter, it shines brighter. This reviewer hopes that the restraint and confidence featured in Drip drive the artist’s next body of work.

Shadow is on view at Catharine Clark Gallery, in San Francisco, through February 19, 2011.