Description: In his witty, puzzle-like paintings Michael Eastman uses words and figures as abstract elements and sometimes for their meaning as well. These works are not literal puzzles to be solved, instead they are artworks to be puzzled over: it is up to the viewer to discern whether a word or number is a message or simply a mark. View Hercules
text detail. View Scene II
text detail. The snippets of text in this painting make reference to lines spoken by Hamlet--an interesting selection considering the depiction of Mrs. Hollit. View Mrs. Hollitt detail. Eastman often uses irregular, graffiti-like writing in making his paintings. Since Michael Eastman enjoys aping the look of naive art, we place him in that category. But, Eastman's approach to his work is cerebral, pointed, and quite abstract--not at all the urgent, direct attitude typical of a naïf or outsider artist.Visit the Tribeca studio of Michael Eastman whose work is included in the collection of Hirshhorn Museum (Washington,DC) and the Mauntner-Markof Collection (Vienna, Austria).
View additional works by Michael Eastman.
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