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Exile In Orange - Online!

Welcome to Exile In Orange: Visual Art by Buttered Roll
March 27 - May 9, 2021 |
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WATCH OUR INTERVIEW WITH BUTTERED ROLL

Exile In Orange is the story of a stranger fated to wander through liminal space in search of signs of authenticity. The series of work presented here is meant, in some sense, to be read as a historical record, a map into the past which, one faithful day, may lead toward home. Exile In Orange is the first solo visual art show by the artist Buttered Roll. Thank you for visiting our digital gallery!

To purchase, email hello@smushgallery.com. All artwork will remain in the gallery through May 9; we will arrange pick up, delivery (available in Jersey City only), or shipping after that date. Please note that buyers are responsible for shipping and handling costs. Payment will be processed via credit card or PayPal.

Read the Artist’s Statement

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Artist's Statement

Thank you for being here. My name is Buttered Roll, and I am a self-taught visual artist, poet, writer and performer based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Exile in Orange is a series of 27 pieces of visual art. I prefer odd numbers. This number was not predetermined.

Exile in Orange is the story of a stranger fated to wander through liminal space in search of signs of authenticity. This stranger operates on the idea that that which is authentic is always adjacent to the heart and the heart always leads one home. The process of creating this work has helped me to confront foundational feelings of disillusionment which have been living with me for as long as I can remember. These feelings have escalated during this past apocalyptic year. So many of the things that I see everyday feel devoid of substance. A landscape of veneers. I am in search of authenticity. You know it when you see it. 

The ideas at the core of this work, disillusion, exile, paranoia, authenticity and reconciliation, are recurring throughout my experience. I suspect that everything I have done up to this point and will do as an artist will be a gesture of reconciliation with these recurring ideas. Similarly, I consider that being in a state of exile is a process that involves reconciliation if one desires to go home. The series of images presented here are meant, in some sense, to be read as a historical record. They are a map into the past, which may, one faithful day, lead me home. 

I have always been prone to wondering about the grandiose, existential questions that some human beings are prone to wonder about. In situations where a more grounded and practical mind might be advantageous, my head is usually cloud surfing a few thousand feet above the surface. One thing that becomes clear when you spend a significant portion of your time with your head in the clouds is that while the questions might be ambitious, the answers seem to be missing in action. TBD is the phrase that comes to mind. Is there a God? TBD. Are we having Brussel sprouts for dinner again? TBD. We reside in a mysterious place. As an artist, I would like to acknowledge that mysteriousness. I have spent my entire life as a space cadet, which makes me an expert in mystery. 

Joseph Campbell referred to mythology as a public dream and dreams as private myths. In addition to the mythos of our dreams, we each tend to consciously mythologize our lives to different degrees. There is a cast of recurring characters. Past events can become formative as determinants that disappear and reappear throughout great swaths of our lives. In the mythos presented here, one of the recurring characters is a minotaur. In some capacity, he is an avatar for the artist. In another, he is an envoy from the homeland, a guide that has been following the artist throughout his exile. Sometimes he helps, sometimes he hinders. 

History to me, seems to be an indeterminate entity. The indeterminacy of any historical event seems to covary with the amount of time between the historical event and the present. The historical record is and will always be incomplete. These ideas have led me to a fascination with extinction level events and fringe theories that are slowly moving closer to the conventional narratives which saturate the educational framework that I grew up with. One of these theories belongs to Dr. Anthony Peratt, who is a plasma physicist. Dr. Peratt asserts that there are petroglyphs that can be found across the globe that are firsthand accounts of auroral events caused by plasma discharge from the sun. This heightened solar activity immediately preceded an extinction level event which occurred roughly 12 thousand years ago. Dr. Peratt argues that these petroglyphs were made as representations of the auroras themselves. Some of these petroglyphs appear in various forms in several of the pieces included in this show. One of the ways in which I intended them to function is as a link to the past that appears in the present. Despite the myriad differences and divergences in the lineage of the human species, maybe there is a mythos that is common to all of us. 

Cadmium Orange, Titanium White, a mix of French Ultramarine and Burnt Umber to make a cool black. These are the only three colors used in this series. This palette reminds me of my dreams. There is an emotional ambiguity to the color orange. Orange seems ethereal, immaterial, having to do with light. There is an immediacy to it as well. Can something be dreamlike and immediate simultaneously? 

I would like to say more. I would like to tell you exactly how I arrived here. Works of art take on a life of their own once they are cast into existence and it’s enlightening to witness their various interpretations  unhindered by the artist’s intentionality and direction. I am indebted to the people and the work that have undersigned this space in which I can exist as a not so complex carbohydrate, as an artist. I am not ignorant of this and I will work diligently to adorn and grow this space so that others may use it as well. Thank you for your engagement. Thank you for your presence of mind. Thank you for acknowledging my offerings. Please feel free to tell me about them. 

With Love, 

Buttered Roll