Queer Interiors and Phthalo Blue, an impressive new site-specific wall painting by David Lozano, enlivened the foyer of the Art Center in the summer and early fall. The title of the show references the electric color phthalo blue or Phthalocyanine, a synthetic pigment that Lozano favors in his paintings for its brilliant and intense quality intended to create a euphoric mood in the space. For the Art Center, Lozano used the two floors of the entrance area to compose a double-decker large installation of wall paintings wrapping seductive glimpses of bodies and bedrooms in drapes of rich color. “Queer sublime” is the term the artist uses to describe his saturated color paintings that infuse ornamentation and texture with erotically-charged scenery. According to the artist, this style of painting provides a way of navigating through the pop cultural wasteland that is so heavily influenced by gay culture and vice versa.
The romanticized depictions of cosmic bodies appear to signal something alien and inaccessible. Lozano’s work juxtaposes celestial motifs with commentary on the complexity of carnal desires. The romanticized depictions of cosmic bodies appear to signal something alien and inaccessible. Although his paintings often incorporate imagery of stars and nebulae, the primary motivation behind Lozano’s work is the steamy nature of human intimacy. This fundamental human experience of complete exposure in a personal relationship as interpreted by Lozano, discloses the honest fact that sometimes an experience this intense always feels unfamiliar.
