A practitioner of psychedelic dreams, artist Fred Tomaselli turns mindscapes into visual landscapes. Layering print media, marijuana leaves, pills, and paint under layers of resin, Tomaselli constructs networks of awe-inspiring elements that come together to form a transcendental vision of parts of the universe. Fascinated by youthful experiences, spiritual allegories, and current events, Tomaselli takes on big and small issues, not ruled by size.
His current survey show, which began at the Aspen Art Museum in 2009 and is currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum, offers a stunning body of work in a variety of media. New to the show is a dynamic group of altered press photos from the covers of the New York Times, as well as a powerful pair of paintings from 2010, depicting a crazy owl made up of concentric, circular forms and a hungry starling, anxious to gulp down Tomaselli’s iconographic past.
Creating a touchstone for important global issues — from the war in Afghanistan to the discovery of underwater uranium in Bolivia — Tomaselli turns our mediated, consumer-saturated world into a marvelous play land, where we can jump on a ride to the next realm.
Fred Tomaselli’s mid-career survey is on view at the Brooklyn Museum through January 2.
Click through below for a gallery of images.
Apr. 20, 2009, 2009. Gouache and collage on printed watercolor paper, 8 1/4″ x 10″ © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
Feb. 3, 2009, 2009. Gouache and collage on printed watercolor paper, 8 1/4″ x 10″ © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
Apr. 20, 2009, 2009. Gouache and collage on printed watercolor paper, 8 1/4″ x 10″ © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
Feb. 24, 2009, 2009. Gouache and collage on printed watercolor paper, 8 1/4″ x 10″ © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
March 26, 2009, 2009. Gouache and photocollage on printed watercolor paper, 8 1/4 X 10 inches © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
Fred Tomaselli, Night Music for Raptors, 2010. Photo collage, acrylic and resin on wood panel, 84 x 60 in. (213.4 x 152.4 cm), Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery, New York and White Cube, London
Fred Tomaselli, Starling, 2010. Photocollage, acrylic and resin on wood panel, 80 x 80 in. (203.2 x 203.2 cm), Collection of Greg S. Feldman and Melanie Shorin
Echo, Wow and Flutter, 2000. Leaves, pills, photo collage, acrylic, and resin on wood panel , 84 x 120 inches, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York James G. Forsyth Fund, 2001 © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
Super Plant, 1994. Psychoactive plant material, acrylic, and resin on wood panel, 74 x 54 inches, Hort Family Collection © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
Field Guides, 2003. Photo collage, gouache, acrylic, and resin on wood panel, 60 x 84 inches, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: Fractional and promised gift of Vicki and Kent Logan and Accessions Committee Fund purchase © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
Dead Eyed Bird Blast, 1997. Hemp leaves, pills, photo collage, acrylic, and resin on wood panel, 60 x 60 inches, Private collection, courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York © Fred Tomaselli, Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York
New York Millennium Phosphene Bloom, 2005. Leaves, pills, photo collage, acrylic, and resin on wood panel, 60 x 60 inches, Collection of John and Amy Phelan © Fred Tomaselli. Image courtesy of the James Cohan Gallery, New York