Christopher Wool

And If You (1992), by the American artist Christopher Wool, consists of a huge sheet of aluminium that is painted white and printed with black lettering. The letters are positioned unconventionally, so it may take a little while to grasp what it says: IFYOUCANTTAKEAJOKEGETTHEFUCKOUTOFMYHOUSE. Even though the message is directed toward the reader, it withholds information. It comes across as an insult and the capital letters make it seem as though the artist is shouting. But when a text is torn from its logical context, it is up to the reader to decide: should it be read as a humorous or an ironic comment?

In some of Wool’s other paintings he has appropriated phrases from songs (WHYMUSTICHASETHECAT – from George Clinton's funk piece Atomic Dog) and films (SELLTHEHOUSESELLTHECARSELLTHEKIDS from Apocalypse Now). And If You could be based on a quote from the 1983 sitcom Delirious. In one episode Eddy Murphy says, ‘It's my house! (...) And if you don’t like it you can get the fuck out!’ This line was used by the rap group 2 Live Crew in the single ‘Get the Fuck Out of My House’ (1989).

Wool has lived and worked in New York City since the early ‘70s. He says the inspiration for his first lettered picture, SEX LUV (1987), came one day when he was wandering about the city. He saw the message spray-painted on a brand-new white van. The letters in And If You also seem to be spray-painted with the help of stencils, in a way similar to how some contemporary street art is made. Appearances can however be deceiving, because here the enamel paint is applied to the aluminium with a paint roller. Wool has managed to imitate the way spray-paint drips. In addition to word-pictures, Wool creates works that look like interior design elements such as wall paper patterns. For these, rather than using paintbrushes, he uses paint-rollers, sponges, rags, stencils, spray paint, screen-printing and Photoshop.

Wool grapples with the challenge of continuing to paint after Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art and the Pictures Generation (e.g., Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman). He is known for simulating an assortment of expressions, for instance forms of street art (graffiti), interior design elements (wallpaper and stencil patterns), or modernistic paintings; Wool empties his works of gestural content but adds elements from popular culture, making sure to do so through the medium of paint. It has been said that this artist’s works can be defined according to what they are not, according to what is omitted. Wool responds to the conventions of painting but never resorts to them. His 'elimination method' enables him to remove everything he believes is unnecessary: 'You take colour out, you take gesture out – and then later you can put them in'. Wool’s approach to pictures has influenced young New York City-based artists such as Wade Guyton, Kelley Walker and Josh Smith.

IP