Carlo with a spiral painting Painting

Born in November of 1980, London (UK) (note: my work is fairly detailed. Please see my website for larger photos) --------------------------------------------------------- In Carlo Keshishian's work, much of what I find to be most interesting is the consistent adherence to mark making that elicits in tandem, both visceral (optical) sensations as well as philosophical percepts. Specifically, in works such as The Intricacies of Carlo's Brain (1999), Family (2006),or The Void II (2007) the images are made up of labor intensive, near compulsive drawing that forms an image bearing unavoidable comparison to things found in that 17th C. invention we call the natural world. This slow burn process of building images through repetition, almost centrifugally, is an act that mirrors a biological precedent but also utilizes line both to articulate and actually contain time. What is also particularly compelling is the organization of marks along an x-y axis that wholly avoid being governed by a grid. And here lies a fruitful problem; even while as objects, these works exist on a flat rectangular field, Keshishian's project hints at continuum. An extended life beyond the four square limits of the page or canvas. Line also articulates things beyond words just as quality and type of line can produce as much information as we are prepared to allow. So it is interesting that works like Picture Worth a Thousand Words (1999), Tears (2010), and Diary March/Feb. (2010) are made up of text. Reading these images, as opposed to reading a book, requires the viewer to literally adjust his/her distance in front of the surface. Up close, it is possible to make out the words and sentences and from a distance the images appear almost as textiles or geological strata. We are presented with an image made up of already codified marks (text) that risk further incoherence by their mashed up placement. To my mind, the fact these images are pleasurable to look at and given the artists commitment to his time consuming process, I think there is some promise in what lies ahead. Adam E Mendelsohn (April, 2011)