Timothy Cummings at Nancy Hoffman Gallery

TIMOTHY CUMMINGS

Timothy Cummings at Project Space

Nancy Hoffman Gallery

May 1-June 8, 2004

PRETTY, PRETTY

New paintings by Timothy Cummings

Timothy Cummings, Owl Girl Lives in the Garden, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 10 x 8 inches

Timothy Cummings, Paula Dreamt she was a Parrot, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 10 x 8 inches

Timothy Cumming's first solo show with this gallery is a celebration of spring, filled with a palette that bespeaks the season; intense blues in the skies, radiant pinks and reds of the flowers, vibrant greens and butterfly yellows, a veritable explosion of the rain-bow. Much of Cumming's work addresses the issues of inner youthful turmoil, that awkward moment between childhood and adulthood, a time ripe for childhood fantasies. Cummings's interest in painting and amplifying childhood fantasies is accompanied by his fascination in transformation. Figures metamorphose into birds, hair turns into feathers, figures ride on the backs of birds in mythic flight, a bird perches on a young man's shoulder-a mirror image of the young jaunty gent with sailor cap, both bird and boy in profile, both engaging the viewer.

Timothy Cummings, Bird Boy, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 5 x 4 inches

Timothy Cummings, Cherry Tree, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 18 x 14 inches

Timothy Cummings, Prettiest Star, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 14 x 11 inches

Timothy Cummings, Young Painter, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 20 x 16 inches

Timothy Cummings, Boy Spinning Top, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 7 x 7 inches

Timothy Cummings was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1968 where he grew up in the midst of Spanish Catholic and Native American culture, fertile with religious imagery and iconography in the churches. Murals and retablos he saw depicting death, martyrdom, and Day of the Dead imagery influenced him. Cummings is completely self-taught. He eschewed the politics of art school for an education from books with images of Rembrandt and El Greco, among other masters. He began to paint as early as grade school and added sewing to his creative endeavors, making dolls and puppets with elaborate costumes as a teenager. The detailed clothing he sewed for his puppets and dolls became a source of inspiration for the costumes in which he now paints his "people."

Timothy Cummings, The Red Feather, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 10 x 8 inches

Timothy Cummings, Randal, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 5 x 4 inches

Portraits have played a major part throughout Cummings work. In some portraits the artist paints himself in many guises, in others he uses the visages and spirit of his friends. Splendid imaginative costumes parade through each work. People dress in full color regalia, lace collars, harlequin outfits, gossamer dresses, each person a character in a play about to unfold or a secret game that only the creator knows and understands.

Timothy Cummings, The Party Guest, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 36 x 24 inches

Timothy Cummings, Spring, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 inches

Timothy Cummings, The Loved One, 2003,
acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 inches

In The Loved One two young girls with braids in charming plaid dresses are airborne, flying to pluck flowers from a twining plant. On the ground is a black cat, witness to this unusual moment. Harking back to some of the artist's contemporary Victorian fairy images as well as to his dolls and puppets, this enigmatic image enchants. The girls' faces have Cummings's characteristically androgynous quality. They appear to be little girls in dresses, yet upon closer look, they appear to be little boys dressed in girls' costumes with girlish pigtails. Gender, androgyny, sexual identity and confusion are issues that permeate Cummings's paintings. Unusual for the artist is this benign setting and background, the flower-filled grass, the tranquil blue sky with the merest suggestion of white clouds. All appears well, and yet the girls remain unsmiling in The Loved One. Cummings often poses questions in his paintings as he does in this charming little piece, at first glance so joyous, upon longer inspection more charged and contemplative. Are not the girls wearing witches' hats? The black cat combined with the black hats may symbolize mischief unseen to the viewer.

Timothy Cummings, The Soprano, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 inches

Timothy Cummings, Lady Blue Bird, 2004,
acrylic on wood, 12 x 12 inches

Mostly intimate in scale on small wooden panels (from 4x5 inches up to 38 inches high) Cummings's acrylic paintings, carefully and meticulously created, suggest a master's technique with imagery that could only be contemporary

Timothy Cummings, Lollipop Hybrid, 2003,
acrylic on wood, 20 x 16 inches

Timothy Cummings, Sugarbaby Hybrid, 2003,
acrylic on wood, 35 x 28 inches

Timothy Cummings was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1968. His work has been shown at Florida International University, Miami; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; San Francisco State University, California; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco and is included in the collection of the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro as well as private collections.