LEARNING HOW TO READ, AGAIN
Kim Weinstein
“The Hunter Envoy”
New York City, New York
July 26, 1994, p. 6

New York, NY- The first time I saw Georges Le Chevallier’s paintings, they were on slides. “Oh, shapes,” I thought, “how original.” Naturally, when it was time for me to see his exhibit at Denise Bibro Galleries, curated by Mauricio Laffitte-Soler I was not very excited. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the gallery. What appeared to be a mere attempt at Abstract Expressionism on a slide turned out to be a set of complex, sophisticated paintings.

I was a little early for the interview, so I took a look at the paintings by myself. I was taken in by the painting Chipolopolo #1. This painting, which the exhibit revolved around, was created from many different textures: burlap coffee sacs, cheesecloth, mixed paint and sand, and chicken bones. Chicken bones? Yeah, that’s what I said. But then it occurred to me that the painting was partially mortal, and as such it will be in constant motion. While I was chewing on that fat thought, I was drawn into the painting further by the juxtaposition of all these organic textures and abstract shapes, with bright, geometric spaces lines. I wanted to find a dominant image in the work, but I could not. These paintings are not only about paint, textures, and fragments, but they’re also about the way the viewer processes information. At this point, I was very happy that Georges came in. He explained to me that, among other things, his paintings explore the, “purity of incongruities.” People are not made of one characteristic, but many, he explained. Further, people do not make perfectly neat and tidy packages.

Le Chevallier takes his inspiration from his own background. He was born in Puerto Rico and later moved to the United States. He is inspired to paint in order to express what he has experienced in his lifetime. The paintings are created out of incongruent fragments, but the fragments combined make up a pure, whole product. An impure purity, if you will.

Le Chevallier is driven to paint not only to express himself but also to problem solve. His paintings become representations of problem solving, how we decode and process information. With the way technology booms, we are constantly given new information and our sense of order is continually challenged. This is what Le Chevallier paints. By virtue of his paintings being ambivalent, he enlists the viewer in the decision making process. Viewers are forced to recognize their need for balance and desire to impose order on their world. Le Chevallier does not do this for us; he forces us to recognize that we strive to make a decision. We tend to see the world in terms of absolutes, and he will not let us.

The decision to use paint to express himself is very important to le Chevallier. Precisely because of the perception that, like writing, painting has become such an exhausted medium. There are so many other complex, technologically advanced ways to express oneself these days, but Georges recognizes the simplicity and integrity of using paint to express himself. He considers working in this medium not only a challenge, but also a duty.

Unfortunately, the show is over. But I am sure there is more to come. Keep a look out for this up and coming artist.