DIMIN
406 Broadway, Fl. 2, NY
July 18-August 17, 2024
Opening July 18, 6-8 p.m.
From July 18 to August 17, contemporary art gallery DIMIN in Tribeca will present the exhibition Transfiguration of the Comedian by Adam Green. This exhibition is a series of ten paintings presenting cross-sections of his invented deity “the Comedian.” The installation allows patrons to view this entity through various dimensions and psychic planes, revealing its derivation in a multi-media métissage of essays, films and graphic novels created by Green.
Transfiguration of the Comedian is an artistic culmination of the world-making Green has been working on. The Comedian is the central figure and deity of his place of creation, and a further attempt of him to create a “work of total art.” This goal twines through all his creative endeavors despite their various mediums, connecting them and providing a foundation for the Comedian.
Green released his graphic novel War and Paradise in 2019 and in his “Regular World” he creates a universe ruled by deities called “Regu-lords,” one of whom is the Comedian. The Comedian is a combination of the proto-Judeo-Christian Gnostic deity responsible for creating the universe and Artificial Intelligence. In an essay titled Constellations of the Art Mechanism Green spells out his interest in A.I., centering on its unique ability of instant material hybridization. However, machine hybridization is not the same as creation despite its production of novel materials, and as a result:
“The A.I. productions leave us cold and conscious of their meaningless.”
– Adam Green
The Comedian reanimates in several hybridized forms from Green’s worlds: it is a criminal in an Inquisition trial from his poem movie MDVL: 1,000 Years of Dark Ages; it steals body parts from Mickey Mouse or Mario to generate its own body as shown in War and Paradise.
The Transfiguration of the Comedian is precise and handcrafted — despite Green’s interest in A.I. generated art — and infuses pop with a mysticism that branches off in different layers, depths and axes. The pieces contain multiple layers of information, as Green utilizes his invented alphabet of symbols called “Houseface” inspired by deconstructed cartoon characters. Laying the coded symbols of Houseface as the foundation of the pieces, he builds up various meanings in between other formal elements. As seen in former works, he borrows from cartoons and video game characters and plays with basic graphic elements from key entertaining figures. He constructs scenarios and locations from these piece-wise collages to add stories to his two-dimensional illustrations. He also aims for scenarios to emerge from the paintings and become “real-life.”
Green’s works position him as both an artist and a creator: there is a world he brings to life and reveals through his artworks. The Transfiguration of the Comedian presents a dissection of the Comedian so thoroughly and breaks down his secrets and origins so completely that the viewer is carried away by Green’s “Mindwheel.” The mindwheel is an engine of repetition that pushes the viewer towards abstraction, allowing Green’s art to be divided into spectrums of reality for the viewer to consume. According to Green,
“Artists are dam builders, trying to divert a body of flow out of their soul through various adjustments. Artworks function as a sculptural medicine while helping us to wrestle with the moral logic of our dreams.”
– Adam Green
The various mechanisms of art that Green employs allow his creative genesis to be experienced by the viewer on multiple levels, rendering Transfiguration of the Comedian an exhibit that allows viewers to evolve alongside the Comedian.
