Elisa Crossing's paintings are a labyrinth of intrigue, a masterful interplay of the cerebral and the sensuous. Her exhibition at the Civic Art Bureau is a testament to her unique artistic language, where the ordinary is reimagined and the familiar is made uncanny. In my opinion, her work is a captivating exploration of the active and embodied nature of looking, a counterpoint to the digital economy's emphasis on speed and frictionless experiences.
What makes Crossing's paintings particularly fascinating is her ability to create a tension between the observable and the imagined. She loves playing with the idea of placing paintings within paintings, merging interior and exterior spaces, and using reflections and patterns. This creates a sense of disorientation, inviting viewers to enter and explore, to discover or invent their own reality within the painting. One thing that immediately stands out is her use of titles, which are often semantic games, like 'Slow looking' and 'Move me!', adding an extra layer of intrigue.
In her painting '5 o'clock shadow', Crossing captures a series of objects found within an interior space, caught within a web of shadows. The colloquial meaning of the title, referring to the short stubble that appears on a man's face by late afternoon, adds a layer of dry wit. The painting hints at a feeling for the uncanny, something that is familiar and yet possesses a touch of the eerie. This raises a deeper question: how does Crossing manage to make the ordinary so extraordinary?
One of the more ambitious works at the exhibition is 'Intermission', which combines a fragment from Jean-Honoré Fragonard's Rococo classic painting 'The Swing' with various interior spaces. The layering of lush realities with the spartan realities of the studio builds a surface tension that is both seductive and intriguing. This painting casts a haunting and enigmatic presence, suggesting many different ways of seeing and feeling it. What this really suggests is that Crossing's work is not just about the visual, but also about the emotional and psychological impact it has on the viewer.
The large studio interior space in 'Press play' is perhaps less intriguing and more accessible until we notice the frame-within-a-frame reference, suggesting a mixture of different realities. The framing of different realities and the idea of a painting within a painting, beautifully presented in 'Vanishing day', are common strategies throughout this exhibition. Crossing appears to enjoy teasing and intriguing her viewers with enigmatic spaces that, at first glance, may seem like visual puzzles but are not, in that they have no real solutions.
In conclusion, Elisa Crossing's exhibition is a must-see for anyone interested in contemporary art. Her paintings are a masterful blend of the cerebral and the sensuous, inviting viewers to explore and discover their own reality within the painting. From my perspective, her work is a testament to the power of art to challenge and inspire, to make the ordinary extraordinary.
