Some quick art history:

I know that you are all familiar with “that painting with the melting clocks”, right?  That, and many other works by Salvador Dali are almost as ubiquitous as cell phones.  Some of you may know that Dali’s main affiliation was with the Surrealists.  Surrealism was an artistic movement that began in Paris in the 1920‘s lead by the writer Andre Breton. He even wrote a Surrealist Manifesto in 1924.  The long list of artists associated with this movement crosses all genres of the fine arts, and surrealist exhibitions were held well into the 50’s and 60’s in New York and Paris.  

The point to this is that the movement was more than just Dali’s floppy clocks, it was an intellectual and highly philosophical movement that spawned many other movements that continue to influence artists even today.  

This brings us back to the present, and to the work of local artist Benedict Oddi.  This week concludes his show "The Truth is Made" at the Modern Formations Gallery (4919 Penn Avenue) here in town.  Mr. Oddi holds a bachelor and masters degree in painting, having recently received his MFA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  

Looking at Mr. Oddi’s paintings, one can see the influence of such artists as Yves Tanguy and Giorgio de Chirico (both affiliated with the surrealists).  His dreamlike landscapes have a feeling of being both familiar, and otherworldly. They engage on a level that keeps you guessing, while at the same time they make you feel some level of freedom or comfort. You can feel the weight of the ropes in the painting titled “F Your Sailboat”, yet at the same time the surrounding waves seem soft.  This gives the whole painting a simultaneous heavy and light sensation.  

This multi-faceted layering of visual reference can also be seen in the piece “Wage Labor”.  Various objects in the painting have shadows, giving them volume and shape.  At the same time however, the tracks and the rail cart are intentionally flat and two dimensional.  When you look at this, your interpretation might be very different from the artists interpretation, but that is part of the idea.  Enjoy these pieces by an up and coming local artist.  He has numerous examples on his website along with contact info if you have any questions or comments for him.