Eleven with Artist

“Eleven” is a major work. It is at once a technical tour de force on a par with some of Salvador Dali’s optically complex metaphysical subjects and a statement of raw outrage that grips the viewer by the throat. [read more]

- Ed McCormack, Editor-in-Chief, Gallery & Studio New York, New York ©2003
 The terrorist attacks of September 11 are so fresh in memory, still so traumatic and immediate that they present a clear danger to any artist who endeavors to respond to them. Events of such enormity tend to mock and belittle even the most sincere artistic expression. Nothing seems quite adequate to the horror, putting the artist at risk of treading on sacred ground, of trivializing what should be treated with the utmost reverence.

If Picasso had succumbed to such misgivings of course, we would not have “Guernica.” The same can be said of “The Third of May,” Goya’s powerful execution scene, protesting the brutal horrors of the Napoleanic occupation. And the same goes for a new painting called “Eleven” by Texas painter Truman Marquez, another intrepid soul who is willing to take the risks inherent in confronting an emotionally charged historical subject head-on.

Although the theme of the painting (reproduced on our back cover) requires no more explication than a banner newspaper headline, its technical aspects with powerful abstract composition are of considerable interest.

The prototype for “Eleven” was an earlier canvas entitled “Poles and Shadows,” in which Marquez was searching for a way of superimposing images without resorting to transparency or the kind of crude layering that we see in the work of David Salle. He evolved the idea of employing multiple planes and shadows as a device for separating images of the Twin Towers, an approaching plane, and the looming face of Osama Bin Laden emerge from the bold forms and color areas in the dynamic geometric composition of “Eleven.” The manner in which these images make themselves known, suddenly slipping into our consciousness in the act of viewing the mural-sized canvas, captures some of the shock, surprise, and shock of the tragic event, as well as the sense that we all had of an unfolding mystery, as more became known about the attack.

- Ed McCormack editor in chief, Gallery&Studio New York