Monster Garden
Nicholas Norris

About the Exhibition

“Nicholas Norris is known for his large scale operatic paintings which blend interior and exterior space. In this exhibition, Monster Garden, Norris moves in a new direction, presenting his newest body of work, far more intimate and distilled, focused on a single subject: the monster truck. With one straight-forward composition, Norris plays with repetition, color, and elasticity of form, giving us a multitude of moods and sensibilities. Each painting has the same structure. Two wheels are positioned at the bottom of the composition with the truck body raised above. Connecting both wheels and body are lines denoting the vehicle’s suspension. Behind these parts, we see a solid sky and ground separated by a simple horizon line which passes behind the wheels, positioning the viewer’s eye level with the wheel’s axis. Like the truck, we are planted firmly on the ground. The constituent parts fill the visual field like a rubber stamp leaving gaps here and there where we glimpse the background. The shapes are flat, turned parallel with the picture plane, especially the wheels which address the viewer directly. If these trucks could move, they would roll, bounce, or slide side to side, emphasizing the composition’s lateral movement. However, these trucks are not exiting the stage just yet. They are fully present, front and center….”

David V. Whelan