Ariel Reichman: I Am Sorry Felix, But We Are Just Too Scared To Fly

For abc 2016, PSM will present a series of eleven drawings by Ariel Reichman entitled “I Am Sorry Felix, But We Are Just Too Scared To Fly, A–N” (2016). The drawings stem from Reichman’s interaction with Cuban-American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s photographic series Untitled (Vultures) of 1995. Reichman scanned the works as they appear in Gonzalez-Torres’s catalogue raisonné, blew the images up and digitally deleted the birds. He next drew the pixelated sky of Gonzalez-Torres’s original image on paper the same size without the birds, creating a work only faintly reminiscent of the source piece—the drawing could be anything from a scene of white noise to the sky that it is actually modeled on. Reichman’s series increases the forlorn aspect of Gonzalez- Torres’s work, making it more ominous and heightening the sense of vulnerability found within it. While this is a relatively straightforward move in the game of artistic referencing,

Reichman’s drawings not only extend the possibilities of interpretation of Gonzalez- Torres’s work, they also expose Reichman’s own emotive approach. This intimate action is something that is becoming less frequent in contemporary art, confronting the viewer with a powerful quietness as it does, which is part of the reason why the subtlety of the drawings is so affecting.