[I am trying to view more art]: Ben Gest.

I discovered Ben Gest‘s portrait-esque photographic work online recently, and came to like this image in particular. I love the awkward posey-ness of the figure, and the unnecessarily explanatory nature of the title (Alan With His Car Still Running). Gest’s subjects seem to be his friends and family members, and are isololated in these very mundane circumstances, engaged in activities that involve no thought… but Goss largely creates these images without the magical pretensions of a Crewdson or the melodramatic melancholy of a Hopper. There is something darkly funny in staging these people, particularly (presumably) loved ones, stiffly attached to trashlids and so on. Also, I don’t believe Alan’s car is running in this image — there’s no telltale exhaust; the lights aren’t on — emphasizing the notion that these are exacting, somewhat perverse, recreations — Mom & Dad in a diorama. I think of Hockney pool paintings, with a static figure gazing into the waters, without a thought in his head or a gesture that suggests any personal agency.