< Click to teturn to the reviews.
I recently had the luxury of looking at McKay Otto’s paintings within the context of a studio visit, which allowed me not only to look at his current works, but also to see the many years of sculptural works that had preceded them. Prior to that visit, I couldn’t help but read these paintings as sculptures. It was through this context that I was able to reconcile my inclination to see them in dimension, as space. For many years, the artist has made a practice of obscuring forms and figures by the mechanism of layering and veiling – sometimes with gesso and graphite, other times with the fabric of hosiery and, in other instances, a combination of all of those things. This practice results in sculptures that abstract the original and recognizable objects of daily life into elemental shapes and basic forms. In his paintings, Otto has translated that act of veiling and abstracting to his current bodies of work.
A veil, in its truest sense, is defined as, “…a piece of opaque or transparent material worn for concealment or to enhance appearance” – it is something that vaguely covers, separates and screens. The question here, as with all things veiled, goes to the original intent: is it to obscure that which is seen through it or to engage the viewer in such a way that what is obscured must be examined with more concentration and deliberation? Painter Hans Hoffman stated that "the ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." In order to abstract it, an artist must fully understand the form, as abstraction is the act of considering something as a general quality or characteristic, apart from concrete realities or specific objects. In addition to abstracting basic shapes, patterns and forms, McKay Otto’s intention seems to be to invite us inside the works, augmenting Hoffman’s theory of “Push-Pull” in abstract art. The dialogue between the viewer and Otto’s artwork is the circular one to which Hoffman was referring, but in McKay Otto’s case, it’s more pull than push. These works are not for those viewers in a hurry; they encourage time spent. As such, the artist invites us to come in - and stay a while.
Mary Mikel Stump
Gallery Director, Gallery I & II
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY