Rebecca Morgan: No Church in the Wild at Asya Geisberg

Artist Rebecca Morgan with her work at Asya Geisberg gallery on view until March 29th, 2014

Rebecca Morgan
No Church in the Wild
Asya Geisberg Gallery
until March 29th, 2014

By NOAH BECKER, MAR. 2014

The human figure is what most interests Rebecca Morgan and her offbeat characters have all the presence of Northern Reniassance art as it meets with modern cartoon culture. Her show at Asya Geisberg entitled No Church in the Wild runs the gamut of ideas and emotions surrounding mountain people with horrifying and hilarious results. Her paintings seem to reference the book and novel Into the Wild in a non-literal way - her figures have "tuned in turned on and dropped out" so to speak. Her faces can also be wonderfully grotesque, an aspect that really shines in this exhibition. These are humans interacting with the sublimnity of nature in the grandest sense. Morgan focuses on the beauty of nature as her humans frolic naked in their surroundings. Ceramics, drawing and painting are featured as a jumping off point for explorations in color and form. But it's Morgan's prodigious technique that binds this show together - a rare gift so seldom seen in artists of her generation. The theme she has chosen is a tough one to tackle - a daunting task acomplished.  - NB

Hummel Hobo Bumpkin, 2014, Oil and graphite on panel, 14”  x  12”, Courtesy Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York

Installation view, Rebecca Morgan, No Church in the Wild, Courtesy Asya Geisberg Gallery, New York