Articles + Reviews - ROB NADEAU

Review: Rob Nadeau

Moore, Claire. "Review: Rob Nadeau at LFL." NY Arts, May 2002.

Robert Nadeau's recent installation at LFL is a refreshing response to the crisis of painting in an increasingly technology driven society. The large abstract canvases integrate a rigid structure reminiscent of architectural blue prints or virtual spaces with free-form marks and brilliant hues that dominate the surface. Like Photoshop, or many of the other media based programs readily available to the general public, Nadeau composes his work out of scrim-like layers and pre-made forms. Through his use of traditional modes of paint application and a process of appliqué (he frequently creates elements in paint and lets them dry before applying them) he attempts to emulate software tools. Nadeau's work presents an interesting variation on the all too common use of art in the media by reversing the roll between them. Instead of mass media co-opting fine art we find an artist cannibalizing media tools and adapting them for his own purposes. Although his methodology is derived from technology, the work is clearly personal and handmade.

© claire moore 2006