Elliott Hundley’s layered canvases look from a distance as frantic masses of colors and shapes, kaleidoscopic shards that seem contained by nothing more than the canvas’ four sharp edges. However, when you get closer, the hazy edges grow more distinct, and the lavish collages’ recognizable images and text pop forth. These two-dimensional paintings have many of the same motivations, in the artist’s words; exaggeratedly dramatic and emotional, something quite “artificial,” as an opera.
In opera, according to Art21, everything is dialed up to eleven: from the makeup and characters’ costumes, from the stratospheric high notes to the subterranean low notes, to the “ludicrous proposition” that is at the heart of each storyline. “I’m staging imaginary operas,” Hundley tells Art21. “That’s definitely my goal, creating some sort of emotional response from the work that I make” he says. If opera is a sort of funhouse mirror reflection of everyday life, slightly skewed and oversaturated, so too are Hundley’s collages.
“I think it’s resonant because it is made of the stuff that we see every day,” he tells Art21, “So it’s familiar. It reflects our reality. And it’s self-evident.” Hundley’s massive work Balcony (2020–21) is making its Los Angeles debut in “Echo”, his upcoming solos show at Regen Projects. The 40-foot mural features imagery culled from popular culture: a Quaker Oats container, Canada Dry club soda, African masks, and pin-up girls are juxtaposed with religious and political imagery, a confluence of the fantasy and reality of everyday life. The work is named for Jean Genet’s 1956 play, “in which the division of fantasy and reality collapses and social codes are suspended,” according to the gallery.