Life is Absurd! | Garrett Middaugh
Life is Absurd! Where Nonsense Reigns.
Davis Gallery is pleased to present Life is Absurd, a solo exhibition by Garrett Middaugh, opening August 16th, 2025. In recent years, Middaugh has embraced an expressive style, employing surrealism, figuration, and abstraction to create imagery that, informed by the philosophy of Absurdism, is initially conceived as essentially meaningless. As Middaugh states, "I'm kind of embracing absurdism, in my old age, exploring my imagination following this principle," striving to "inject 'nonsense' into my paintings" and to "negate any 'meaning' or narrative that starts to develop." He views structures of reality and meaning as limiting crutches, often creating incongruous images derived from gestural marks that have no direct relationship to other elements in the painting.
Yet, from this deliberate embrace of the absurd and a rejection of pre-determined meaning, a profound depth emerges within Middaugh's work. While the artist generally avoids overt narratives, his intuitive process paradoxically imbues the canvases with a rich tapestry of symbolism and life's complexities. Elements like elephants subtly represent memory, snails embody a spectrum of concepts from death and lowliness and sexual desire, frogs as symbols of absurdity, and butterflies signify pleasant thoughts and fleeting beauty. The very act of creating these seemingly "meaningless" works becomes a reflection on the human condition, where meaning can be found even amidst chaos and a lack of overt purpose.
Middaugh's paintings, though born from a desire for non-narrative "craziness," ultimately speak to the universal experiences of life, death, and everything in between, inviting viewers to discover their own interpretations within the layers of intentional distortion and unexpected symbolism. Middaugh also directly references artists such as Max Ernst, Monet, Constable, Bruegel, and Calder in some of his paintings, subtly weaving homages to these great masters within his own contemporary creations. This artistic dialogue creates a fascinating interplay between past and present, inviting viewers to discover these hidden nods to art history.
Life is Absurd invites viewers to engage with a body of work that is weird, whimsical, crude, and rebellious against conventional reality, embracing imperfection and the chaotic nature of the world, ultimately revealing a powerful undercurrent of human experience. Through this intricate interplay of the deeply symbolic and the absurdities of life, Middaugh's exhibition challenges viewers to look beyond surface meaning and embrace the inherent richness of unconventional artistic expression – where nonsense reigns and stories unfold.