‘Thingly’ forms in Guston Reloaded: Filipo Caramazza at Handel Street Projects

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The paintings by Filippo Caramazza were made during years of protracted expectation of the major retrospective of paintings: Philip Guston Now. Delay was caused by significant debate between major receiving institutions as to their responsibilities when exposing provocative imagery to public view. Potential for misjudgement was a foremost concern in planning publications and installations. As if to manage a sense of deprivation, Caramazza imaginatively substitutes the real paintings, currently withheld, as postcard re-presentations, as if to mark their existence in absentia. The faithful painterly address to detail of image and technique suggest his reverence for the presence of the original works without attempting to replicate their powerful impression. The passive form of copying, a ‘humble address’ to the original paintings, stands in contrast with the authoritative nature of the institutional debate. Much of the concern with public reception of the paintings focused on issues raised by the contemporary ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and references to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) within Guston’s work. Effectively the museums decided to acknowledge but defuse problematic content. This article takes the view that the politics of Guston’s paintings address sociopolitical and personal issues generally, as well as formal painterly issues in contemporary American painting. Taking these ideas further, Caramazza’s paintings offer an opportunity to consider how museums shape critical and theoretical narratives in the construction of displays and a consideration of how painting may act as a critical witness.