In Kris Kuksi’s “Leda and The Swan”, the fabulous woman is exposed and brightly colored than Rubens and Cézanne’s version. In this mixed media combination, Troy’s Helen’s mother is surrounded by a city that rises literally, while more cities are turned upside down. Train tracking crashed. The army participates in the battle. The cut-off head hangs from the trees shrouded behind the scenes. On Leda’s legs, the swan is indeed Zeus. From a distance, the clumsy work on this gallery wall simply retells an old story. At close range.
Kuksi’s man-made ancient, nine new works at the Mark Moore gallery in Culver City, California. Some are very small. Some are very big. All of these are packed with items found. Gods, warriors, prostitutes and occasional animals are pieced together to form a more cohesive scene than one might imagine. Amplification and action continues to evolve. Religious scenes peek from the corners surrounded by the massacre. The weapon is in the arms of female characters, wearing very few clothes, if any. In each symphony of the twentieth century war, Napoleon France and ancient Greece and Rome were intertwined.
“I think I’m born a composer,” said the call from Lawrence, Kansas, “maybe, followed by the artist.” Cooks is certainly an artist, but his great talent is carefully considering every small part—some are so small that they can easily fall into cracks because he constructs the bigger arrangement.
Kuksi appeared in Hi-Fructose as early as 2009. Over the past five years, the artist says his work has changed. “I think it’s getting less compact and more elegant,” he said. “I think there’s always this stubborn, stoic, a Baroque feeling. I think there’s some rococo-style, a more relaxed or ironic feeling that’s always developing.” Seeing Cooks’ work in person is a feast for the eyes. Photos cannot convey the complexity of the work. The artist himself pointed out that in the photos, the combinations appear to be similar in size. “Leda and the Swan” is 121 inches x 96 inches x 37 inches, of which “Artist Lover Revolution” is the loss of 16 inches x 12 inches x 21.5 inches, as anyone who is viewing a series of images on the web will be lost. But, it’s not just size. From a distance of five feet, only the simplest shapes and textures are obvious. As each step gets closer, a new element becomes visible. Some fragments, such as the upside-down city marking Ryda and Swan, are semi-hidden. It requires a slight turn to pay attention. Squatting under the base reveals more.
