Gregg Renfrow’s latest painting and his previous work exemplify a dialectic of style articulated by Ortega y Gassett as “ . . . artistic form, on reaching its maximum, is likely to topple over into its opposite” (The Dehumanization of Art, 1956, p. 27). In the years since Renfrow participated in the 1975 Biennial of New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art, this San Francisco artist has been recognized for the unusual form of his reliefs. Their unique process of facture is fundamental to the effect: polymer paint is poured and brushed onto a surface (often a rough wooden floor), peeled off when set, cut and shaped, composed on fibermesh backing, and assembled as interlocking rectangles. The resulting surfaces occasionally show traces of floorboards, suggesting a reference to urban decay, but to a greater degree they act as self-contained process pieces exploring interplay between coarsely mottled textures, jarring color contrasts, and irregular geometric form.
In four of the five collaged paintings from 1983 on view here, Renfrow’s nonobjective abstractions have “toppled over” into broadly symbolic imagery. These four—Perfect Devotion, King Sunny, Seraphim, and October 31, 1982—all focus on a central configuration consisting of a filled-in Gothic arch shape bordered by multiple triangles radiating outward. The image suggests an upward thrusting force and rays of light or energy spreading outward. There is some disparity in the effectiveness of the motif, with Perfect Devotion appearing to be the earliest and weakest of the group; its central tall, arched, shieldlike shape is edged by short timid spikes, exuding a preliminary, tentative feeling in comparison to other works here. In contrast, October 31, 1982 (a reference not to Halloween but to the birth date of the artist’s first child) is the most affecting. Renfrow has included canvas pieces stained blue and deep crimson among the more translucent red, orange, and yellow triangles; the dark fabric adds a solidity and subtlety to the blotchy textures and garish hues of the polymer sheets. Otherwise the paint surfaces are made the same way as in previous work, except that now the pieces ad here to single clear Plexiglas sheets. The base of October 31, 1982 is an arced band which projects outward from the wall, pushing the expansive central image forward into the viewer’s space.
As a symbol, the motif draws upon multiple associations. The use of the Gothic arch recalls the medieval desire for spiritual ascendance, and the sunburst composition resembles the radiant energy of a sun or explosion. With its hot colors and gritty textures the dramatic image becomes a schematic icon of pure power. It at once bears mystical allusions and, because of the immediacy of the expressive painting, is a raw scream of exuberance.
—Suzann Boettger
