Tag: fenton

Them vs. Us

oil on birch panel

Divisions between Them and Us have long been sources of destruction, divided by nationality, ethnicity, religion, language, skin color, and politics. Understanding we are both Them and Us may lead to a more civilized society. As Albert Einstein said, ‘Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of Mankind.’

Fenton’s composition draws from Paolo Uccello’s The Battle of San Romano and Edouard Detaille’s Vive L’Empereur, depicting warriors in fantastic headgear. Fenton combines images like a napalm-burned Vietnamese girl and a black man attacked with an American flag to create new meanings.

Inspired by the political climate of building walls, Fenton contrasts this with Emma Lazarus’s welcoming poem on the Statue of Liberty. He hopes his painting will show that merging Them and Us into We leads to a more just, tolerant, and benevolent world.

Larry and Carl

oil and oxidized silver leaf on birch panel

A fisherman holding his catch is a ubiquitous photographic image. Fenton chose to paint the subject to create something unique from the most banal of images. His use of metal leaf suggests something regal or religious . . . or possibly both. Using trompe l’oeil, Fenton paints taped negative photographs of fishermen as if he were painting from those negatives.

Gilgulim -Night Sale

oil on birch panel

Fenton has always admired Rembrandt’s Night Watch but felt that the elegantly dressed soldiers were less militaristic than one would expect. Perhaps the well-dressed soldiers would feel more comfortable shopping at J.Crew than guarding the gates of Amsterdam. Gilgul transmigrates them into the busiest shopping days at J. Crew.

Laminations of Jeremiah

oil on birch panel

Fenton describes people throwing rocks at Jews whom they have been taught to hate. In the process of their actions, they fracture the world, a world in which the highest moral standards are the bulwark against destruction. Even so, the Jews fracture as easily as the world. The weeping prophet Jeremiah witnesses all from his vantage point between the layers of the broken world.