Cosmic Bubblegum 2002

Curator: Before us hangs Jack Armstrong's "Cosmic Bubblegum," executed in 2002 using acrylic paint. Editor: Well, my initial reaction is… visceral. The sheer density of the impasto, the bubblegum pinks and clotted reds, it’s almost overwhelming. There’s a sense of uncontrolled energy here. Curator: Indeed. Armstrong's bold application of paint, almost sculptural in places, creates a tactile surface. Note the layering of colors, a deliberate orchestration that simultaneously conceals and reveals the canvas beneath. It disrupts conventional perspectives on material usage. Editor: The title seems ironic, doesn’t it? Bubblegum implies something light, airy, ephemeral. Yet this painting feels weighty, even suffocating. I see the cloying artificiality of consumer culture pushed to an extreme, reflecting societal excess. And look closely, some drips have a sinister undertone almost reminiscent of dried blood, perhaps pointing to something more ominous hidden underneath layers of saccharine fantasy? Curator: An intriguing interpretation. However, consider the interplay of forms. The lack of discernible figures compels us to focus solely on the material qualities. It becomes an investigation of the act of painting itself, a discourse on art-making, on form's relationship with itself. We can engage here in structural analysis and neo-formalist decoding... Editor: But can we truly divorce form from context? Abstract expressionism, like matter painting, developed in the post-war era and this example shows how artists were reckoning with trauma, disillusionment, and new ways of expressing violence after the digital turn in art making. I view the chaos within the frame as symbolic of inner psychological and social turmoils within the modern milieu. Curator: A compelling reading, even if, strictly speaking, it sidesteps some central considerations regarding abstraction's autonomy. Even Armstrong’s technique encourages closer inspection. I keep seeing micro-landscapes in all of those mounds and swells of impastoed acrylic. Editor: So, from cloying sweetness to something more psychologically complex—quite a journey this artwork presents! It invites introspection. Curator: Yes. Armstrong forces a certain level of looking by using acrylic paint in a novel way.