From the Spirit: Paintings by Miles Cleveland Goodwin
OCTOBER 23, 2020 - JANUARY 12, 2021. VIEW ON ARTSY
APPOINTMENTS AND PRIVATE PRESENTATIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS PROJECT THROUGH JANUARY 12
The recent paintings of Miles Cleveland Goodwin (b. 1980) are full of contrasts and transformations that capture a sense of place and the emotions it conjures. Born in Mississippi and currently based in Georgia, Goodwin is deeply rooted in the South and inspired by its contradictions and mysteries. His color palette also recalls the overcast gloom of the Pacific Northwest, where he earned a BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland. While some earlier works are like twisted fables, these new paintings urge viewers to look beneath the veil of appearance. Like a Flannery O’Conner story, they convey dark forces lurking below the surface of the ordinary.
With their unsettling blend of seen and unseen, real and surreal, Goodwin’s paintings display a haunting naturalism which seems a fitting style to convey the complicated histories of the South. Full of familiar people, places, and natural scenes, the paintings also suggest what lies beneath the surface, where religion, tradition, and inequity shape and warp the everyday. As Goodwin explains, “At this point, I am trying to relate events because the recent works seem to be more than just paintings. They appear to be like history. I’m encapsulating moments in time.” “I’ve always felt naturally attracted to the nitty-gritty of it,” continues Goodwin, and he is interested in “how [the composition] feels emotionally and how I can manipulate it to create a space that makes somebody react.” Using gritty color palettes, exact lines, and tactile textures to capture what is both apparent and just below the surface of things, Goodwin transports viewers into a reality that is at once familiar yet full of mystery.
Sponsored by: Fillmore Found, David Herring of Innovative Pain Release, CASA Architecture, and the Matney Family
