Painting Critique - #2

James N. O'Shea
"Never saw blue like that before"
April 2001
Oil on Canvas
80cm x 100cm

I started the first of a series of critiques here at Oil Painting with a non-representational oil painting. In contrast, this next piece certainly is a representational painting, although in a surrealist style.

The submission entitled "Never saw blue like that before" was sent in by the artist James N. O'Shea. The medium is oil on canvas, and the size measures 80cm x 100cm. It is one of other surreal paintings created by the artist, and is meant to be a "reflection on how different the world seems when there is someone there to share it with you".

The way that the artist, O'Shea, is able to succeed in expressing his concept is very subtle because the composition seems simple. However, when understanding the surrealist mind, it becomes easier to appreciate everything that is going on in the painting working together to allow the concept to surface. Through distorting reality, provoking imagination, contrasting design, exaggerating shapes, and creating a deliberately unique viewpoint for the viewer, O'Shea's painting style is certainly indicative of Surrealism. These clues of Surrealism are the key to grasping the conceptual message of O'Shea's painting.

When looking at the two figures in the painting, it may seem a stretch to see clearly the artist's message as it was meant to be conveyed as a "reflection on how different the world seems when there is someone there to share it with you" because we are not privileged to experience the moment exactly as the couple does. It is exactly this difference between our standpoint and theirs that sets the precedent for "how different the world seems" to the couple. We can only use our imaginations to wonder what it must feel like to be one of only two people in such a dream-like setting.

Ours is a birds-eye view allowing us the chance to see the "blue" for ourselves, but it is obviously in a different way that gives a distant feeling from what the couple seems to witness. As the viewer, we also feel further detached from the scene by the lack of our own shadow. In the reality of the piece, the couple and the blue ball each have a contrasting shadow that seems to ground them in the situation. We, however, have no ground and no shadow, leaving us to feel a yearning to experience what the couple is feeling first-hand.

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