John Seal : BAD DREAMS OF A BETTER TOMORROW

4 Feb-7 Mar 2020

Overview

True to its title, 'Bad Dreams of a Better Tomorrow' introduces viewers to utopic vistas where ragged items of furniture and obsolescent gadgets become the cornerstone of a life not quite lived, but only imagined. The chairs, lamps, and cups that figure in Seal’s paintings are of limited use; but they’re all we would have left to start civilization afresh. At once futuristic and kitsch, these objects constitute our inheritance. Seal’s wry vision of paradise on earth points to the obsession technocratic cultures have with their own destruction. His paintings are intended to be both humorous and tragic. Avoiding the easy pitfall of bathos, a painting like A Force as Light as a Feather (2019) suggests the aftermath of some unspecified apocalypse. Thematising a kind of survivalist kitsch, the painting radiates a quiet intensity, showcasing the all-too-human human frailty inherent in organizing a world from cultural detritus.