Corydon Cowansage

Fence #5, 2011, 108" x 76", oil on canvas

Patio #1, 2010, 106" x 76", oil on canva

Roof #10, 2012, 78" x 58", oil on canva

Roof #7, 2011, 80" x 102", oil on canvas

Chimney #2, 2012, 64 x 50 inches, oil on canvas

The paintings of Corydon Cowansage are both representational and minimalist. Not something you see every day. Minimalism, by it's very nature, leans toward abstraction. These are no different. But we can still tell immediately what the image is of. And just in case your visual cortex isn't firing properly, the titles should clear things up. Representation is usually interested in evoking associated responses to its subject matter. This work tends toward disassociation. What we see is pattern and shape. The lesson is straightforward. Abstraction is not, if you'll allow this mangling of language, an abstraction. We are surrounded by it all the time. It's merely a different way of looking at things. Extraneous information is cleared away, the subject is carefully framed and composed and rendered at a very large scale. Scale matters. Bigger is not always better. But it can be. And here I think the choice to work large is exactly what these simple images need, so that each shape and detail can take on it's own weight and lead the viewer beyond the subject matter. You can see more at the artist's website: corydoncowansage.com