Round and round and round and round : New Paintings by Joe Bloom

About

To say that a work, or a body of work, “operates on multiple levels” feels almost to peddle in the commonplace. As the breadth of influences from which artists can be expected to work grows – if only due to the near constant deluge of data from which we all suffer – singular meaning, or un-nuanced meaning or execution, appears facile. But then again, when we watch meaning, media, and style proliferate to an almost dizzying degree within individual pieces, or even bodies of work, we are reminded that complexity is not synonymous with quality. We as viewers demand consideration and intention, but in the wrong hands, the results can run amok.

With this – the delicacy of complexity – in mind, I think of Joe Bloom’s work. Difficulty, certainly for the viewer (and not to mention the artist), is not something Bloom shies away from. Large, vibrant works exude a freneticism that is often borne in all areas of the canvas. There are few pieces of Bloom’s that do not capture some kind of motion, and a raucous one at that: leaves fly, figures whirl, and time is always hurried. As a response, the eye is made to race, at least at first; it is not uncommon I find myself needing to take a moment to determine the primary subjects in any given work. Bloom’s scenes do not come easily, and there is a labor in the extraction of even the core elements of setting and tone. However, this labor, like clockwork, always proves rewarding.

Scenes unfold delicately, with deft detail hidden in the nooks and crannies of masterfully utilised space. Primary and sub-texts reveal themselves with each read, and multiple narratives (and counter-narratives) emerge. In short, Bloom seems to prepare each work for scrutiny, always offering something in return to the diligent eye. Out of this a dialogue is born; as each detail is reflected upon and added to, a kind of tête-á-tête between viewer and artist is formed, and the larger thought process that governs the piece becomes clear.

These thought processes are worth noting. If the world in which we live is cast along the axes of space and time, the universe which Bloom’s scenes inhabit adds a third axis to the mix: the supernormal. Injected into Bloom’s world is always a magical realist sense of possibility, but one which is only ever referenced subtly. Bloom’s universe feels driven by an otherworldly excess, yet we are kept tethered to the real by our own senses of logic and reason. The value of this, it seems, is far less aesthetic than it is ideological, if not practical: there will forever be something to dream up in Bloom’s world, always ripe for activity and invention, always with another place to explore. As such, there is never anything eerie about Bloom’s work, only joyful – even in works that depict otherwise difficult scenes, the hope of this sentiment shines through. There will always be another happening on the horizon.

Text by Jacob Barnes