Clayton Thomas
Clayton Thomas’ work seems to have been painted eighty years ago, there
is something familiar in his forms, yet he is altogether new. He takes
the most common and timeless genres of painting; religious imagery, the
still life, and the nude and redefines them. His subjects are
deconstructed using flat panels of color and bold outlines, similar to
the work of many German _expressionists, to be reassembled into a
contemporary commentary on modern art. This transition from a
fauvist inspired cubism to a more complex redefinition of the subject
matter is done through subtle transitions in both palette and shape.
His nudes are cubist planes of arm and elbow, stiff jaw and broad nose
and are restrained by a thick and unyielding outline. The shapes that
make up their forms are heightened by flat fields of color. The palette,
far from flat, is full of indigo and fuchsia evocative of Matisse, Derain
or Jawlensky. Yet, one cannot ignore the sexuality of his forms and the
twenty-first century swagger of their hips. These are not just cubist
nudes or fauvist abstractions. They are modern, almost pornographic in
their poses, as if they have been culled from a hustler centerfold
spread. Within the points formed by wrist or breast are swirls of hips,
circled shoulders, and moon like bellies. These women are sexual in a way
that Picasso’s nudes could never claim to be.
