Which is more insane, the world we inhabit, or the one Eric White paints? The eponymous monograph contains 150 images that are equal parts classic cinema and surrealist daydream. One can easily spot fragments of our world and pop culture, and yet, White’s world proves less terrifying than our own. It’s hard not to chuckle at his subverted album cover paintings and his 1/3 Scale Retrospective installations.
Which is more insane, the world we inhabit, or the one Eric White paints? The eponymous monograph contains 150 images that are equal parts classic cinema and surrealist daydream. One can easily spot fragments of our world and pop culture, and yet, White’s world proves less terrifying than our own. It’s hard not to chuckle at his subverted album cover paintings and his 1/3 Scale Retrospective installations.
Like a painted journey through a hall of mirrors, this first cohesive view of White’s career to date highlights key early works that led to an invented alternate Hollywood, one he calls “paranoid social realism.” Among the psychologically charged narrative paintings, read an entertaining interview with actor and author Peter Coyote, as well as essays by poet-activist Daniel Rounds and several leading art critics. We are charmed by Eric White’s satirical wit and fantastically schizophrenic universe embellished with obscure pop culture mashups. —David Molesky
Eric White's new monograph is available from rizzoliusa.com
