According to Heraclitus, time is the eternal stasis of our being that happens all at once, for an instant. When time stops, is pushed, condensed or compiled as an image, it can only be held together, temporarily.

XII Gates is a reconstruction of the larger problem of being falsely imprisoned; making links between ideas not previously connected. The constellation of twelve columns is a 'gatekeeper' bearing visible traces of an earlier form.

A painting that has been set in motion, must return to its starting point. The 'blueprint' for the XII Gates was initiated in 1990: Single columns, (144” x 12”) of stretched canvas, multiplied by 12, conjoined into a (12’ x 12’) mutable equation. A geometric pattern circumscribing the whole assemblage would underlie multiple transparent layers of Prussian Blue. This monochromatic 'second skin' would not materialize until 2023.

The XII Gates was dismantled and remained out of proximity for thirty years. In 2022, its 'bones' were exhumed and transported in pieces to PS 122 to be confronted face to face. Marking time through a relationship with a painting that will not allow itself to be seen is labor intensive and beyond reason. You are never alone. The painting watches your actions and mirrors that split-self who might be held accountable for translating the psyche into something visible, reachable and readable.

Imprisoned or lost in the eye of the painting, the rage of the painting brings all things to new arrangements and draws attention to semi-comprehended fragments that are given form through prolonged reflection. The delusion of exile and the determination to be free of every limitation makes a challenging portrait of an unalterable past and probable future. Success and failure are one and the same: The past becomes a way of finding a way back to the beginning.

Cair Crawford

Cair Crawford