Earlier this year, I had the chance to talk to OHWOW co-founder Al Moran about the Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective the gallery were hosting. During the course of our discussion I asked him about the direction he’d like to take with the gallery, which led him to talk about two artists he added to the OHWOW roster in late 2013 – Jacolby Satterwhite and Torey Thornton. Both of these artists Moran feels will have a profound impact on the art world, sooner rather than later. While Satterwhite’s practice – which focuses on performance and video – is amazing, it’s Thornton’s multimedia paintings which really took me back. As Moran fervently expressed, “Thornton is producing work that is so countercurrent that I feel it can change the direction of contemporary painting.”
Looking at the series of images above, provided by OHWOW, it’s not hard to see why Moran feels so strongly. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, you’ve got to have balls to paint like this. The young New York-based artist recently opened Oh, Strange, That’s Your Name, a solo exhibition at Paris’ Galerie Torrey and is set to show at OHWOW later this year. Definitely one to watch.
