Eric Fischl. Daddy's Girl. 1984. Oil on canvas. 198 x 78 in.In a century from now what will be Eric Fischl's artistic oeuvre? Dali makes us startle. Matisse makes us smile. And Fischl? Fischl makes us uncomfortable.
His work is imbued with thick tension as he captures tantalizing juxtapositions by camera that would otherwise have been lost in the nanoseconds of time. Within those photos are split seconds that represent the "cracks" of the world he is witnessing that then get transposed onto canvas. More than that, however, the man himself exudes his oeuvre. Those in his physical presence are made uncomfortable by Fischl's words, body language, subtextual sexual innuendo, hidden metaphors, etc. and one is left to wonder if Fischl even realizes that he is doing it. Just as Salvador Dali was surrealist showman, Fischl is discomfort.
The painting above, Daddy's Girl, emerges from the discomfort inherent in our anxieties and problems concerning the naked body. Fischl readily accepts this confrontation as a look into what appears to be a friendly look at a summer day on high cliffs of St. Tropez. Blue sky. White-hot house. Flip-flops. Cold glass of ice tea. As relaxing as this scene seems, it is belied by the classic Fischl tension that is always found in the details. For instance, one of Fischl's last additions to the composition is a very quenching glass of ice tea that may teeter off the ledge at the slightest touch of wind. This glass is placed between the characters and the viewer, thereby connecting the viewer's gaze intimately to the scene; it feels as though we're sitting in the painting at eye level with the drink, which is right in our reach. The glass also stands out a visual stopping point, balancing out the blue of the sky as its complementary colour. Another detail is the staircase that leads up to a rail-less balcony from which a little toddler could easily tumble. And the dangling flip-flop that is about to fall off. Clearly there is a running theme of "falling," which itself doesn't really matter; it is the "almost," the moment right before the fall, that is fun for Fischl to psychologically exploit.
As the title of the painting says, however, the subject of the painting is the people. The position of the little girl on top of her daddy is that of a very close embrace. But wait. It seems as though the girl is struggling to get off. How old is that girl? Why are these people naked? Wait, is that his... oh, nevermind. When he began this painting, Fischl asked himself, "what's wrong with flesh-on-flesh?" The image above features a man hugging a little girl. There's nothing really askew, yet we don't trust that because the two figures are alone. And in knowing that, we start to build a narrative and concede that if something was to be going on, we would not be able to stop it. Or we think that there could be something going on unconsciously between them. Suddenly the viewer of the painting is conscious of her own perverse and lewd expectations.
It's a very uncomfortable position.
His work is imbued with thick tension as he captures tantalizing juxtapositions by camera that would otherwise have been lost in the nanoseconds of time. Within those photos are split seconds that represent the "cracks" of the world he is witnessing that then get transposed onto canvas. More than that, however, the man himself exudes his oeuvre. Those in his physical presence are made uncomfortable by Fischl's words, body language, subtextual sexual innuendo, hidden metaphors, etc. and one is left to wonder if Fischl even realizes that he is doing it. Just as Salvador Dali was surrealist showman, Fischl is discomfort.
The painting above, Daddy's Girl, emerges from the discomfort inherent in our anxieties and problems concerning the naked body. Fischl readily accepts this confrontation as a look into what appears to be a friendly look at a summer day on high cliffs of St. Tropez. Blue sky. White-hot house. Flip-flops. Cold glass of ice tea. As relaxing as this scene seems, it is belied by the classic Fischl tension that is always found in the details. For instance, one of Fischl's last additions to the composition is a very quenching glass of ice tea that may teeter off the ledge at the slightest touch of wind. This glass is placed between the characters and the viewer, thereby connecting the viewer's gaze intimately to the scene; it feels as though we're sitting in the painting at eye level with the drink, which is right in our reach. The glass also stands out a visual stopping point, balancing out the blue of the sky as its complementary colour. Another detail is the staircase that leads up to a rail-less balcony from which a little toddler could easily tumble. And the dangling flip-flop that is about to fall off. Clearly there is a running theme of "falling," which itself doesn't really matter; it is the "almost," the moment right before the fall, that is fun for Fischl to psychologically exploit.
As the title of the painting says, however, the subject of the painting is the people. The position of the little girl on top of her daddy is that of a very close embrace. But wait. It seems as though the girl is struggling to get off. How old is that girl? Why are these people naked? Wait, is that his... oh, nevermind. When he began this painting, Fischl asked himself, "what's wrong with flesh-on-flesh?" The image above features a man hugging a little girl. There's nothing really askew, yet we don't trust that because the two figures are alone. And in knowing that, we start to build a narrative and concede that if something was to be going on, we would not be able to stop it. Or we think that there could be something going on unconsciously between them. Suddenly the viewer of the painting is conscious of her own perverse and lewd expectations.
It's a very uncomfortable position.
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