Glenn Rubsamen's work at the Armory show. Photo from Oly's Musings. Olympia Lambert says this about the work:
In yet another example of color saturation, Glenn Rubsamen had a wall devoted to his cell phone towers that appear to be on first glance palm trees. Again, it's Southern California at its most decadent candy coated shallowness. The gradient skies seem to float amongst the bird nests attached to these manmade structures that are so foreign to the natural make up of the land. These are great references to Pop art at its finest. Seeing how corporate America continues to market to us an ever greater need for 24-7 communication, we are forced to disguise these very technologies in our communities. Sticking out like a sore thumb amidst an arrid landscape, the works are interesting in how they capture the nature of communication now. Regretably, it all comes down to 0's and 1's, but a sunset, dusk, or sunrise will always capture a moment that cannot be quanitified in a digital readout.
Rubsamen has been making very similar paintings for years--trees, lampposts, phone poles silhouetted against gradient skies, always immaculately painted. The cell phone towers are a new wrinkle but it seems like these creepy sentinels always belonged in his paintings. Not seeing these in person is one reason to regret not attending the Armory.