Credibility Gap 1991

Mark Kostabi’s ‘Credibility Gap’ looks like it was made in 1991, with oil, maybe on canvas? It's a monochrome painting that uses a limited palette, emphasizing form and structure over color. Look how the human figure is rendered in smooth, almost robotic lines. He sits perched within this massive, brutalist machine. I'm wondering what Kostabi was thinking about in the early nineties. I remember that time... it was so full of promises that felt both exciting and terrifying. This guy is trapped inside some kind of mechanism, trying to carve his way out with primitive tools. I can relate! It feels like an act of defiance against a world that's increasingly dominated by cold, unfeeling systems. Like other painters, Kostabi plays with the tradition, but brings a contemporary self-awareness and maybe some irony. Paintings like this invite us to question what we think we know, and to stay open to the multiple meanings that can emerge through art.