Sean Crossley: Consistencies

Consistencies addresses conventional notions of 'the consistent' or 'the coherent' within the dimensions of (self) expression, commerce and contemporary media. It's conceptual approach to painting and affinity for humorous word play, build on Sean Crossley's first exhibition at Harlan Levey Projects, Recreational Painting, and his more recent presentation at the WIELS Center for Contemporary Art, Renovation de la Bourse. The exhibition presents an elaborate effort to affirm curiosity and pursue the alien, the original, and unrecognizable through two new suites of paintings. The distinct pair of components in the exhibition propose alternative sets of consistencies by integrating notions of framing, segmentation, repetition and transaction into both the subjects and production of the paintings. Crossley attempts to elaborate and disrupt traditional genres and decorative formats within the cannon of modern/contemporary painting, whilst pushing this material into relationships with other domains, specifically those of agriculture and the service industry. The somewhat duplicitous character of the works in this show playfully nudge the industrial decadence of Baudelaire into the post-digital age, the cloud, a time where everything and everyone must be available and coherent at all times.