Charles Garabedian

The title “Works on Paper” suggests a show cobbled together out of minor drawings and studies, but in fact, works on paper (and board) constitute a major part of Charles Garabedian’s oeuvre. So, while you might not find any canvas in this exhibition, you’ll still get a full understanding of the artist. Consisting of thirty-one works, many quite large, the show is smartly curated by Nevin Schreiner and Luckman Gallery director Julie Joyce. They’ve juxtaposed pieces that range in subject matter from the Iliad to daytime television, and the selection reveals Garabedian as an artist who grabs cultural images, icons, and stories at will and as needed, offering the human condition as a visual grab bag. A brilliant bricoleur of imagery and style who effortlessly teases, tweaks, and flips connotations, Garabedian is capable of making chopped-up bodies delight you, while his classic beauties might cause your flesh to crawl. Like Guston, to whom he is not heir but equal, he does it all with obvious devotion and amazing economy. Sometimes cryptic, always idiosyncratic, and often wide-ranging in references, the works are nonetheless accessible. As Benjamin Weissman astutely writes in the brochure that accompanies the exhibition, “Personal painting is not necessarily a narcissistic act. It is a gesture towards expressing collective human experience. When G. paints himself, he’s also painting us.” It’s a lovely, and most warranted, homage.