On the subject of exhibitions I wont be seeing in person, I recently kept going back to Rhodes Contemporary Art to check out the documentation of Kevin Sabo’s second solo show with the gallery. Fittingly titled Head Over Heels, the exhibition features a new body of acrylic and graphite on canvas paintings (and a ceramic sculpture) that blur the line between illustration and painting, giving the dynamic imagery an almost emblematic, timeless appeal.
What strikes first about Sabo’s imagery is the charm of mid-century stylization and twentieth-century expressionist styles. Using these perhaps outdated but inherently romantic approaches and aesthetics, he is bringing back the sense of modernism and its almost shy, subdued, pre-Pop effect. The scenes are set against non-representational cream or black backgrounds, using forced perspective that makes them feel like a fever dream rather than a depiction. The characters and objects are defined by sharp, cutout-like shapes in mostly solid, subdued colors, and volume is added through graphite shading and detailing. This mix of techniques gives the work a sense of genuineness and urgency, all while elevating its trippy appearance into a more believable realm.
Employing the logic of “rubber-hose physics” but within a stricter, more stylized design, the features and elements are still allowed to stretch, bend, or transform into ornamental shapes. The format of the canvas is used as an absolute limitation, a comic panel, and the way Sabo crams his protagonists with it emphasizes the pulsating dynamics underlying the scenes. With that, the images “carry both allure and satire,” a healthy mix that just never gets old, making Head Over Heels feel like an exact description rather than a metaphor. —Saša Bogojev
