Axis Mundi:
An Artist's Realist Connections with Abstraction
While the advent of Contemporary Realism was prompted by what seemed like a competition between abstract and realist art, Cincinnati artist Emil Robinson convincingly dismisses this division. The realist painter said, “I believe that all good painting stems from invention. Painting is the act of constructing an abstraction. The most intelligent and powerful realist work exists as a formal masterpiece.” This is evident in his work. In all of his paintings we see a connection between realism and abstraction. 'Axis Mundi' is a realization of such a connection pulling together form and content, style and genre, space and spirituality, art and viewer.
The term 'axis mundi' literally translates as 'world axis' or 'center of the world.' It is a metaphor that crosses cultures and histories often represented by an image or location that links heaven and earth. Some examples include the oracle of Delphi, the Tree of Knowledge, and the Vitruvian Man as well as mountains, clouds, and cathedrals. These are seen as actual (or symbols of) earth's navel or connection to the heavens. For Robinson, 'axis mundi' or point of connection is the recurring element in his work and this solo show allows him perhaps more than ever before to explore these elements with the viewer in a single central space.
Convergence is made up of three paintings presenting the intimate and familiar spaces, interiors that make up much of Emil Robinson's oeuvre. This interior setting is defined by a gridded background of squares and diamonds. In one we see from behind a woman removing her black t-shirt by pulling it up over her head. Robinson captures the moment when the shirt is almost completely removed revealing her braided hair and exposing the definition of her spine and muscles of her back and arms. Her bra is neatly clasped yet with one twisted strap over her right shoulder offering a wonderful contrast to an otherwise perfect symmetry that is her body. Because the viewer sees this image from behind the subject seems a bit vulnerable as she is not able to return a gaze. Yet her build is a strong one and her form reveals a confidence rather than vulnerability.
The second painting is of a man doing the same, removing a shirt over his head. Though here, the figure seems a bit more helpless as his head is still caught in the shirt. Still the strong and detailed muscles of the body reveal a similar confidence. It is this strength in form that is as much or more the subject of Convergence than any narrative Robinson may be creating a narrative of the union of these two people. The strong forms of the body are emphasized by the geometric patterns of the wall that is the setting of each painting. The point where the fluid lines of the bodies connect with the geometric shapes of the wall is the realized moment in this intimate space.
The third (center) painting of this group is simply a studio wall that includes the perfectly formed grid of squares, diamonds and triangles seen in the other two paintings. This wall however is riddled with tape markings, holes revealing plaster, and streaks of paint from a work in progress that once hung there. These markings on this grid are depicted in breathless trompe-l'oeil. By itself, the panel wonderfully presents the connection between an abstract flatness and the depth of realism. As in this central panel an abstract motif is present in so much of Robinson's work. Perhaps unexpected from a realist painter, his exploration of interiors reveals an interest in the lines that make up tiles, walls, doorways, stairwells and other architectural elements we do not always notice. The two figural paintings not only bracket but are connected by this middle panel defining the space as the “new familiar” both personal and shared.
Emil Robinson is interested in how we live and move in our space. Specifically his interest is in the movement of the organic human body, how it resides in geometrically formed spaces and how both come together to form a connection. It is this bond between the abstract and the real, between the strong geometric shapes on the wall and the muscular definitions of the bodies that is the focus of the paintings. Rather than a competition between realism and abstraction, the lines of the wall emphasize and connect to the lines of the body revealing the purity of form they share. This is the convergence to which the title of the piece refers.
The Billow is unlike much of Robinson's other work in that here we have a landscape. So different from the intimate interiors, The Billow presents a much larger subject that is our natural surroundings. As mentioned, clouds are seen as visual symbols of the point of connection between earth and heaven, and here the very large cloud over farmed planes seems to be the subject of the painting. However, similar to the paintings of the figures and markings against a geometric pattern on the opposite wall, here Robinson presents a connection between an organic figure, the cloud and the grid of the farmland. The gradation of light and color in The Billow shows a natural coming together of what otherwise seems to be opposing forces.
'Axis Mundi' is a narrative of humans' connections with each other and their surroundings. Placing The Billow opposite the other three paintings that make up Convergence invites a connection between outside and inside. The Billow may also allude to the dynamics of intimacy and the relationship between the woman and the man in Convergence. The small space of the gallery further enhances these notions of our own personal space, how we connect with each other and the paintings that surround us in 'Axis Mundi'.
Robinson looks for “new ways of experiencing common spaces, objects, or actions.” He presents this in his paintings of interiors and figures as well as landscapes. These are spaces we know and narratives in which we may have participated. Robinson's achievement lies in capturing a moment. Not so much a narrative moment or even a pictorial one but more a revelatory moment experienced by the viewer. This is a moment when we recognize the point of our connections. Robinson invites a meditation on the everyday that reaches a spiritual realization of the purist forms and space that connects us, the axis mundi.
