For this exhibition, Sanford has executed eight pieces ( six paintings, one drawing and one series of 30 drawings) each of which deals with the events and personae that define the artist’s relationship to popular culture. Some of the paintings depict events that occurred in the arena of mainstream popular culture, such as the Assasination of Dimebag Darrell, or The Vibe Awards Stabbing. Others, including The Triumph of Passion over Reason and Follow the Boys, address events and issues of celebrity culture within the New York art community.

The experience of viewing these paintings are somewhat like watching a car wreck. One simply cannot turn away, yet the image burned into one’s consciousness is undeniably disturbing. It is this attraction/repulsion that is the impetus for Sanford’s work and reflects the artist’s ambivalent relationship to the culture he not only depicts, but of which he is also an avid consumer. The paintings are tethered between the crass opulence of celebrity, and the hysterics of its fans ( a group of which Sanford is a self-identified member)

In his paintings, Sanford often employs the tropes of Renaissance portraiture, history painting or Byzantine Icon painting, substituting contemporary figures into classical compositions. The use of these conventions invites the viewer to venerate our contemporary icons, while at the same time, the paintings suggest a recent history as epic as the mythologies depicted in paintings of the western canon.

Sanford has also invented a caricature of himself which is included in many of his paintings. This caricature, Tompac originated in a project where he reinvented himself, losing weight, getting himself pierced and tattooed, in order to look more like Tupac Shakur. Tompac was born to fail, and is in Sanford’s own words, the most pathetic gangster. In his paintings Tompac appears as the fool, either seemingly commenting on the scenes or stiffly posing within them. The insertion of an awkward likeness of himself into his paintings underlines his uneasy relationship with the subject matter he depicts. But in the end, his visage assumes more of the traditional role of court jester, taking on the task of comically critiquing “royalty”, when other means of censure would prove too risky.

Related blog post: James Wagner