Coction
Xerox Transfer on Mat Board, 16 x 12 Inches, 2018
Old Yellow
Single channel video, 2:00 minute run time, 2017
Yellow Bile
Oil on Canvas, 80 x 60 Inches, 2018
black bile
Oil on Canvas, 2018
The Four Humors
The Four Humors
The Four Humors
The Four Humors
The Four Humors
Justin Marsh presents new large scale figurative paintings and multimedia works at Axis Gallery from July 7th to July 29th, 2018. The exhibition is informed by the archaic pseudo-science of Humorism. The artworks on view celebrate the human figure, specifically portraiture, through an illustrative approach that captures the distinctions of character developed through Humorism.
Humorism was devised of a network of attributes that placed human behavior and physical qualities among four corresponding agents. The four humors were once believed to be the core fluid constituents of the human body. Together, these fluids- blood, yellow bile, phlegm, and black bile- mediated the balance and universal health of a person in a process known as coction. Apart, the imbalance and predominance of one humor over the others manifested in the body and mind, which led to diagnosis of ailments and afflictions in association with a single humor. Personality traits also corresponded with humoral imbalance, lending credence to the convictions of inherent vice and the justification of behavior because “it’s in my nature”.
The project is steered by the artist’s personal understanding and relationship with the models. In this way the works offer a greater subjective truth to both the artist and the viewer. The large scale artwork exhibited in this show follow Marsh’s principle strategy of painting: the figures, here nearly life size, posture in an abstracted environment with expressive designs drifting and cascading over the picture plane. Each figure poses with allusion to their respective humor, its folly and circumstance.
Justin Marsh is a California native working between multiple art mediums with a specific interest in comprehending failure. His works explore personal/human tragedy, collapsed structures and structural collapse. He is a member of Axis Gallery, Sacramento and a museum professional serving as the Exhibition and Program Preparator at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis.