Some people might find boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese or jars of Skippy peanut butter too prosaic for fine art. But such things are exactly the focus of Bloomfield artist Jessica Rohrer, whose solo exhibition, Oakridge Road, is showing in a Chelsea art gallery through July 22. The show was recently reviewed in The New York Times, which described Rohrer’s collection of meticulous oil paintings this way: “It is as if a mad hausfrau or a Stepford wife had become obsessed with conducting an inventory of every single thing in her fanatically groomed world.”
We interviewed Rohrer by email to glean a little more about her unusual show.
The exhibition is called Oakridge Road, because you live on Oakridge Rd. in Bloomfield, right? How long have you lived there?
Yes, it’s Bloomfield, my husband and I and our two daughters moved here from Brooklyn three years ago.
Can you tell me something a little more personal about yourself, your vision, why you like painting pictures of these domestic things?
This series sprang from paintings I was doing of windows. My work often has included a reflective surface such as a window or mirror. I like the way they break up the space in a picture. Also, there has often been an autobiographical element to my work… the facades of places I’ve lived, cars along my block, often presented in a very precise and somewhat idealized way.
I love this picture. Can you tell me about it?
Yes, this was one of the first paintings of the series, there is also a reverse view – from the outside looking in where you see only the reflection of the neighbor’s house.
How big are these pieces, are they for sale, and what’s the price range?
These are all small in scale. The smallest is 10″ X 10″ and the largest 11″ X 17″ . I wanted to emphasize the intimacy of the subject matter – force a close relationship between the painting and the viewer. But then I also think there is a coolness about the way they are staged and executed which establishes a distance. The pieces are all for sale and people can contact PPOW Gallery for more infomation.
How long will your exhibit be up?
The show will be up until July 22nd. The summer hours for the gallery are Monday – Friday 10 a.m. -5 p.m.
PPOW Gallery is located at 535 W. 22nd St. in New York.
As a foodie I want to have an intervention! Mac & cheese from a box (gah), lemonade from a mix (blasphemy!), skippy peanut butter (oh lawdy be!) but the artwork is brilliant.
I love Jessica’s work. Although John is right – where is the balsamic vinegar and walnut oil?
Very cool. I’m envious of the pantry space. I’m sure the balsamic and vinegar is in another cupboard. If I had the room, as it looks like she does, I’d separate the “wet” and “dry” completely as well. No drip zone and all.
And in defense of the boxed mac and cheese: Sometimes you need that option to maintain sanity with small children. And ants on a log are a lot easier with smooth “fake” peanut butter than the thicker/harder to mix in a pinch natural stuff. Besides, the natural stuff is in her refrigerator, I’d think.
Ants On A Log???? That sounds like one of the Kitchen Nightmares Gordon Ramsey would have discovered. details please.
Ants on a log: Celery stick filled with peanut butter topped off with raisins. Only my kids prefer my version: Ant on a Raft. They like it cut into smaller pieces to avoid the stringy celery pieces. It’s not the best vegetable for them to eat, but it’s better than nothing.
And it’s good roughage. I won’t get into why that’s important. You’re welcome for that.
to make the raft have you thought about running carrots lengthwise across a maddoline? or how about apples, cored and peeled, run over the mandoline to make ants on life preserver? add a layer of nutella for “chocolate covered ants”
Yeah, Mandolin to me plays music or shreds my finger tips. I’ll leave that experiment to you.
I like the able slice life preserver idea though.
We do ants on a log with cream cheese and raisins!
I tried cream cheese with the kids once, and even though my daughter LOVES cream cheese, she didn’t want it as ant adhesive. I may try hummos with something like olive bits or something else savory. Not sure what they’d go for.
And a correction, the “able” in my previous comment was supposed to be “apple.” Don’t know what happened there.
All brand named GMO conventional products. Anything organic?…..Zip
Also, be careful, Warhola’s estate might be knocking on your door soon.
those walnuts in the back might be organic …. anyone know …. Bueller, Bueller ….
speaking of Andy … “Andy Warhol: ‘Campbell’s Soup Cans’ — inspired by Willem de Kooning? – latimes.com http://t.co/2zka9hy“
The chicken broth is organic. There’s one.
I like the paintings – there’s so much color and it’s not a fairy tale version of an ideal. The closet and coats on hooks show real life (albeit neater than mine – sadly).
I don’t get art.