There is something so refreshing about being able to write about two events taking place in Miami that are not connected to art week in December! After we just interviewed Axel Void and Ana Barriga for their show in Miami this week, our good friend Cody Hudson just opened a solo show of paintings and sculptures, Earth Rise Day Dream, at Primary Projects, on view through April 27, 2019.
Primary is pleased to present Earth Rise Day Dream, Cody Hudson’s first solo at the gallery and the inauguration of Primary’s newly constructed location designed by renowned architects John Keenen and Terence Riley (K/R Architects). Based in the burgeoning Little River neighborhood of Miami, this hybrid exhibition space and private residence will explore modern ideas on the subject of live/work as applied to the context of contemporary art.
The exhibition’s title is a combination of two social contributions from the same era. First, a color photograph titled Earthrise, taken from lunar orbit by astronaut William Anders and second, found in the coda of Sugar Magnolia, the song lyric sunrise daydream, written by Robert Hunter for American rock band The Grateful Dead.
In Earth Rise Day Dream, a selection of twenty plus sculptures and paintings, Hudson takes a cue from various schools of alternative thought which include communal processes exemplified at Black Mountain College and ideas found within Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog. Hudson also considers a sphere of influences that include psychoactive plants, DIY warehouse raves, the history of patterns applied to systems of weaving, and a secular but personal look at this world’s natural elements.
Jules Olitski describes painting as having mainly to do with color, surface, and shape, but also the difficult task of addressing feelings. Concerning Hudson’s execution, his approach is largely meditative, dominated by feeling, powered by a conglomeration of historical references that are transferred from his psyche to each broad field of color on linen.
The aesthetics surrounding the works are realized in part through deconstruction, delivering a version of our landscape through a lens that is graphic in nature. His delicate use of shape and color aims to convey a variety of subtleties such as the search for inner peace, positivity, and harmony.
Complimenting the abrupt transitions between areas of acrylic on canvas, a series of steel sculptures can be found romancing the exhibition space, both in and outdoors. Hudson’s metalwork is an extension of his painting practice as well as his life long relationship with processes of design. Made from quarter inch steel, welded, and finally, powder coated, materializing as a psychotropic gesture to Matisse’s radical cut-out’s. Rising from the concrete, these sculptures affirm Hudson’s commitment to form.
Whether it be an additive process of applying paint to woven surfaces or the subtractive cutting away from sheets of steel, Hudson’s practice will always observe a broad scope of cultural significance and when it comes to recognizing the purest point of communication, Hudson knows the work has arrived when it can be deemed entirely honest.