Various shades of red, fleshy pinks and perfectly straight lines compose the complex wound that is the eye-catcher of Christopher Gentile's exhibition, "Staking Out Expansion." The UNC alumnus has returned as a visiting artist.
But Gentile's exhibition isn't startling for its presentation alone -- just days ago none of it existed at all.
Gentile's temporary mural is complex. It began as hundreds of carefully pencil-drawn lines -- lines that took Gentile and a small team of art graduate students more than 60 hours to craft.
The unpainted lines of Gentile's work-in-progress resemble something more like an abstract blueprint. The finished product, covering the wall nearly from top to bottom, is Gentile's largest work so far, and in the miniature gallery the use of space is dramatic.
Gentile likes to think of the temporary painting as "recontextualizing the intention of the three-dimensional." The use of straight edges and other architectural tools is the crux of the painting.
"This work is about striving for perfection and falling short due to basic human inability," Gentile said in his artist's statement.
Closer inspection of the wall painting illustrates Gentile's message -- it is indeed imperfect. Many of the painted lines are blotched though not messy. From a few steps back the viewer might not see such aberrations.
Having recently lived in the Middle Eastern country Qatar, Gentile has been greatly influenced by that region. The "falling short" of intended perfection illustrated in his art was ingrained in the culture, Gentile said.
Though color and size might draw in the viewer, the three-dimensional quality of the art demands closer inspection.
