黑料不打烊

Henry Miller used the term 鈥渃repuscular鈥� to speak of all things twilight. When we watch a sunset, it鈥檚 actually us (the viewer) who is spinning back and away from our subject. Which is to say that nature - like art- is a matter of perspective. Since he was a child, Tommy May has been obsessed with Thomas Cole鈥檚 鈥淐ourse of Empire鈥� paintings, particularly the last piece in this cycle, 鈥淒esolation.鈥� Vegetation has begun its creeping reclamation of civilization in ruins. After moving to Los Angeles in 2016, these pictures took on a deeper significance: the atmospheric horizon at dusk, how a moonrise reveals different palettes in the night sky. The title of his solo exhibition at half gallery is 鈥淎irlight,鈥� a scientific word describing light refracted through air pollution particles. Man鈥檚 complicity in diminishing the natural environment can result in beauty, a fringe benefit of our destructive behavior. May cites Ed Ruscha鈥檚 鈥淐ity Lights鈥� series and Mary Weatherford鈥檚 ability to harness a glow as influences. 鈥淭he moon and sun are celestial markers, always in motion yet always returning, offering a daily reminder on the long arc of history,鈥� says the artist. He imagines his painting from a very specific vantage point on Mulholland Drive near Lautner鈥檚 Garcia House, perched above the city like some contemporary Casper David Frederick protagonist. He wants to make small paintings that feel big and expansive. They are abstracted portraits of the day and more than that clocks ticking time in color.