Michael Northuis, American. Love in Time of Silence, 2011
27” x 15” oil on panel. Courtesy of the artist.
Amidst the musicians are plain, simple
low tables that tilt in different directions.
The visual meaning of this is that there is
no common floor, nothing is level. How
is it, then, that the figures walk, or dance,
or move without falling? There is, as in all
of Northuis’ work, only an internal logic
that plays out against an internal chaos.
Music in the Underground is off balance,
at least visually, and, we might guess, it is
off-key. There is a dog to the left whose
head is tilting upward. We might guess he
is howling, and thus is a primary musician
of the underground. To the extreme right
is the shadow of a figure that appears to
wear a policeman’s hat: is our underground
musical party about to be arrested?
Perhaps. Perhaps not. What we find in the
off-kilter world of Michael Northuis are
reasons to wonder and, more importantly,
to wonder why we reason. n
Anxious Visions: The Art of Michael Northuis
is on view in Gallery 15, the Mamie and
William Andrew Treadway, Jr. Gallery,
January 8–April 7.
A resident of North Carolina, Michael
Northuis holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree
from the University of North Carolina,
Greensboro. His work is represented by the
Heriard-Cimino Gallery, New Orleans.
Michael Northuis, American. Country Death Song
2007, oil on panel. Courtesy of the artist.
columbiamuseum.org
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