Malcolm X Print

LARRY CAVENEY AND THE FOUR ELEMENTS by Mat Gleason What appear to be paintings from separate Larry Caveney series are actually held together in their conceptual approach, much as their subject matter might differ. They say dancers are as much athletes as those paid to play sports so there is a thread of connection there too. But look closer at what the artist does, the four elements are visible in all this work. Water: The element at the core of Caveney’s practice is the liquid paint he moves around to complete a composition. Frozen water is still water and the permanence of what he leaves can be seen as a purposeful, eternal splash. Air: The motion depicted here cuts through the air, swirls it all about, be it a dancer’s twirl across the ballroom floor or the bat of a superstar cutting toward the oncoming ball. In these pictures the air is disrupted by greatness and the painting captures this disruption. Fire: The energy on display burns with the heat of the subject’s intent but also the artist’s as well. The layers of meaning are derived from having captured the explosion of heat, each picture of Caveney’s is defined by what the subject burns. Earth: The solid object of the pictures is a manifestation of the element of earth. Even when depiction creates illusionistic space, even when the artist captures crystal moments in time and articulates their magic, the object itself is what guarantees its permanence, its earth. Larry Caveney is a painter, an artist and as evidenced by this work, an elemental magician.