Christopher Neal's artwork is original, visceral, vital -- the discernable products of his technical brio and assuredness of brushstroke. He brings a fearless approach and energy to his canvas work that is refreshing and new. His credibility lies in his masterful manipulation and attention to surface quality, which gives his art a masculine ruggedness and an unexpected sensitivity. If great art is meant to draw our attention, if it attracts us, and pulls us in on an emotional and intellectual level, then Neal succeeds handsomely.

Neal's artwork deals with the complexities and fluidity of identity and perception. It has be said that identity within the “American” context is the sum total of culture, race, socio-economics, sexual orientation and class; and these signifiers are often used to identify the potential and/or limitations of persons in our society. Because of the hostile social climate and developmental history of America, black men along with other men of color have had the added challenges of forging both a viable identity and a sense of self, while taking into consideration the complex and confusing emotional geography otherwise known as masculinity. [re-work]

Concerned more with surveying and understanding his own complex psyche and duality, than on creating work for exhibition purposes, Neal is most interested in looking into what prevents positive transformations from occurring in the emotional, spiritual and psychological lives of black men in America. He wonders why black men have not yet in significant numbers been able to transcend "spaces of physical and psychological 'dis-ease' in their lives." As a result, his work is often autobiographical. Through which he is almost literally engaged in a struggle to save himself, nurture a center of peace within his own life and seeing himself as "both reflective and representative of the larger demographic."

When you have the opportunity to witness Neal painting, you notice that he has a penchant for duality in his process. He uses an addition/subtraction technique in which he adds layers of paint to the canvas to only later scrape or sandpaper those layers away; he carefully develops the figure elements to only paint over them later, in essence, revealing some things and hiding others and leaving some elements purposefully undone. When asked about this approach, Neal states, “That it does not bother me to have unfinished elements in my work.” In fact, whenever he feels that his work has an almost “too finished” quality to it, he will often rework that part of the painting, as he believes that “sometimes work that is too finished can come off stiff, lifeless, dead.” He views life in a similar way, seeing life as a complex representation of multiple layers, that people are constantly working through for better or for worse. He understands first hand the multiple protective layers that black men develop in order to shield themselves from negative and hostile scrutiny, which can become an unfortunate barrier to the necessary, and needed understanding of self. In short, he explains that “we begin to believe our own myths and accept that over our own truth."

Neal, like Jean Michel Basquiat before him, continues in a tradition of creating work that strongly speaks to the complexities surrounding the black male experience in America. Specifically, Neal is interested in looking at the objectification of black men on the American landscape in his series of “untitled’ paintings that he refers to collectively as “Gods” or “the Gods series”. Neal calls into question some of the longstanding stereotypes that continue to haunt and plague black men today around physicality, the so-called "in-bred athleticism," low intellectual capacity; sexual proclivity; and a tendency towards violence. Thus, he chooses to create artwork that flips this focus, often using images from popular entertainment and sports media as well as erotic imagery as a basis and inspiration for his work. What is interesting about the figures that he paints is the complex, unclear, angst-ridden quality of the facial features. While the torso and limb figuration is generally clear, the facial features have a deliberate unfinished quality and are usually featured with horns or headdresses, referencing West African religious deities and power figures (see figures 3 and 4). This technique of leaving the features of his mostly male subjects undone is quite similar to the way that Basquiat left most of his black male bodies unfinished, suggesting that the black man has yet to achieve a sense of a complete, whole status; indeed, they lack a ‘first class citizenship' necessary in pursuing the so-called "American Dream". Thus, these men are left vulnerable, hiding behind masks as a last resort protective mechanism.

Next >>>