Known for large paintings of plug sockets, phallic sharks rearing out of the ocean depths, surreally distorted human figures, multi-horned unicorns called ‘Morecorns’ and other uncanny imagery, Frankfurt and Brussels-based painter Jana Euler addresses power, gender and sexual relations with humor. In the group exhibition ‘Suncrush’ at GreeneNaftali Gallery in Chelsea, Euler’s ‘Closed Circuit,’ connects a washing machine and a Canon camera by a flexible, fabric lens that joins the circular forms on the front of each device. Each of the improbably joined devices suggest viewing – through a lens or window – but while the assumption is that the camera will be trained on something interesting, the washer recalls the banality of housework. Together, the two elements of the painting suggest the coexistence of, or perhaps battle between, a tool’s potential for excitement vs drudgery. (On view through July 28th).
