Rubine Red Gallery | 11/12-12/5 | Palm Springs, CA

The Psychology of Things

James Rieck presents new work that feature evocative objects from the era of the American Dream

Artist James Rieck is more interested in the conceptional implications of clothing than he is in fashion, but vibrant vintage designs are front and center in a body of his earlier work. But look again and what is cropped out of the frame—and the nuances of what remains—begin to reveal the compelling psychological underpinnings that inform his artwork.

“Clothes cover up our nakedness, but they also reveal our identity,” Rieck explains. “It’s not hard to also see that what we put on also reflects the opposite of us. Clothing hides our insecurities, our psychological nakedness. It’s an attempt to make sure you see me a certain way and not another way.” Best Western, oil on canvas, 30 x 32"

Rieck’s primary references are illustrated catalogs and annual business reports and pamphlets from the 1950s and ’60s. He’s fascinated with staged scenarios contrived with the intent to sell something—tangible or otherwise. He gives the example of a stereotypical businessman, presented in a suit and tie. “He’s in a kind of uniform; he’s imprisoned in conventional forms to convey a trustworthy persona. Through clothing and posturing he is trying to gain our trust.

“We know that model is posing but we’re very quick to suspend disbelief and go along with the narrative they’re presenting. The psychological maneuverings of [advertising] are so effective. We all know it’s sinister but it also carries a kind of innocence.”French Floral, oil on canvas, 70 x 48"

Rieck maintains the duality of wholesomeness and darker undertones—inherent in the mythology of the American Dream—in his latest work but shifts the focus from figures to objects. The aesthetics reference the same era and the imagery, like some advertising tactics, prey on nostalgia but rather than leaving you warm and fuzzy, evoke ambiguous emotional responses that, at times, verge on discomfort.

For instance, one painting depicts an old Best Western ashtray in the amber-colored glass of a certain era. Who hasn’t spent a night in a Best Western? It is both universal and specific to the individual depending upon their associations with the hotel chain. Another piece portrays an old school electric pencil sharpener that anyone of a certain age will remember. Again, where it transports you will be different for everyone.Lush Look, oil on canvas, 30 x 30"

“They are very deadpan,” Rieck says of the series. “I’m telling it straight up without adding other tropes. When I put these paintings together, the paintings evoke a kind of hotel room or a private space, a bedroom or house. In that space there’s a connection between them. I want to leave open room for the viewer to bring their own psychology to them.”

There are two paintings of beds that imply unconsciousness or being asleep. In the ambiguous Lush Look, only a woman’s hand and feet are visible. It is unclear whether she is taking off toe nail polish or putting make up on her feet, lending a fetishizing aspect to the piece. In French Floral the woman is barely in the frame. Removing her as the focus of the original advertisement results in a visual experience that is figurative and abstract at the same time.Brother, oil on canvas, 12 x 18"“It’s not pop art,” Rieck says. “I’m not so interested in the image…there’s a psychology that I want to squeeze out, wring out, to evoke something. Pop art resists that psychology while I’m embracing it.”