Amer Kobaslija, After Watteau II, 2018. Oil on aluminum, 67 x 48 inches.
Amer Kobaslija's recent solo exhibition Florida Noir at Arthur Roger Gallery was reviewed by Francesca Aton for Art in America. The article examines the nuances and references in Kobaslija's new body of work surveying Florida's cultural and natural landscapes. Aton writes "Kobaslija’s scenes of hunters and police officers patrolling forlorn lands suggest a postapocalyptic world, but his paintings also envision quotidian experiences during a slow-moving ecological crisis, with desolate landscapes inhabited by families, children, and pets."
She continues, "[In] After Watteau II (2018), a black male officer presides over a patch of land dotted with tree stumps while a quizzical goat stands to his side. Off in the distance is a dead tree festooned with colorful inner tubes—the only hint of the carefree leisure associated with coastal Florida. The officer takes on the melancholy expression and hunched posture of the heartbroken clown in Watteau’s Pierrot (1719). A stock character from the commedia dell’arte, Pierrot was routinely thwarted in romance and often fell victim to childish pranks. Kobaslija’s version appears defeated under the strain of environmental duress..."