Nailing it

A series of stark, scratched (in the DJ sense) portraits of men, heads only, on squares of wood sawn from a plank. Faces smeared with interior turmoil: Raskolnikov in charcoal encaustic. Vigorous brushstrokes border on violent. Arresting, to be sure. An animalistic intensity, with scars. This is forceful and confident work, tinglingly good. These ten paintings are shown in two groups, they deserve to be kept that way by some perspicacious collector.
Wood of a different variety is found in the other room, where giddily dick-centric, loosely childlike drawings make the innocent (yeah, in Bushwick) blush. Collison's definately wagging his tail here, but covering his ass by titling these "crass". That is, on his site. Here everything is untitled. Hmmm... Perverted with a soupçon of perverseness (which is interpretive) and a sprinkling of quirk. Ink on found paper: old manila envelopes, tatty file folders: discards. Often the sexuality is "deviant" and the figures' dialogue, deadpan. Throughout, the artist maintains a sense of play, especially in the non-sexual pieces. These exude a sense of warmth and, perhaps, memory.
(click on image to enlarge)

Collison is a young, classically-trained artist who includes "explosives expert" on his resume.

Adam Collison "It's Not Their Fault", at 3rd Ward
195 Morgan Ave. Brooklyn
718-715-4961
through Feb. 28
www.3rdward.com
www.adamcollison.com

photos courtesy the artist.
top: "Untitled" 2008, charcoal encaustic on wood, 12 x 12 in.
bottom: "Untitled" 2005, work on paper