ERIC VOZZOLA: 'Low Res'

Eric Vozzola “Warm Oasis” (2017) 64 x 39

ERIC VOZZOLA: The graphic artist turned muralist and public artist has gracefully stepped back into his third solo show to give us digital glitch.  Eric Vozzola did not exorcise the demons of a day job in his new work that stretches his visual codes, nor would you want him to. His current solo show, his third, is titled “Low Res,” named after the red flag for images that are expected to be clear and reproducible in print media but are nothing more than fragmented floating squares.  Our digital landscape have many moments of pixel interruptus, as I experienced when my TV baffled the cable company provider for a few months. But I digress. I experienced that same anomaly all over again with Vozzola’s work.

In “Warm Oasis” we see a symbol of escape in the landscape -a palm tree-in the background. It is also in the foreground with one small pixel blemish. In the middle is a field of pixels, including a fragment of frond floating in space. It reminds you that in Las Vegas a palm tree is also a symbol of commerce, whether by a pool or a road that leads you to a pool.  Here, as in the other works in the show, the object is invaded by squares in a rhythmic use of color via analog form of paint and brush, pushed forward like an art director gone mad with a Pantone color guide. Even commitment to paint is on the edges of the canvas. Vozzola’s mastery use of color are in all the works and sets a tone that the squares are the focus. not the visual infiltration. I use “Warm Oasis” as an example because it is the tree interrupting the composition of pixels.

The gallery at Whitney Library doubles as the lobby for a small concert hall. It is also the main way to the restrooms, giving “Low Res” active foot traffic. A few times someone stopped to look at the work. That supports the argument that these paintings are incomplete until one or two are recreated on an empty wall somewhere in the city.


Eric Vozzola
“Low Res”
Whitney Library Gallery
Through January 16 ​