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Dana Schutz cakes her canvases in thick gobs of gooey paint. Her first proper London exhibition is a messy, exuberant tribute of her material, but significant themes are smuggled through if you can scratch your way towards them.

The Artist's Technique

Schutz’s approach – which has seen her lauded as one of the most important painters of her era – is all about surface, brush strokes, hue and substance. It’s painting for painters, real high-level aesthetic geekery. Should you enjoy losing yourself in coats of color and shading, there’s plenty to keep you going for a while. But it’s Schutz’s grotesque, surreal, cartoony, metaphorical imagery that truly drives the paintings tick.

Works in the First Gallery

The works in the initial room are populated by giant-headed cyclopses and baying crowds. One piece shows a collection of forms trudges mindlessly towards something off canvas, brandishing fists and leaving a trail of trash in their wake. A different work features a person receiving a large disguise in an odd initiation ritual before a horde of ugly supporters. It’s easy to read any of this as social commentary, as commentary on the state of the US, on how society is divided and angry, and mob mentality is turning everything to waste.

An Embrace by Dana Schutz.

Changing Themes

In the other gallery space, the artist appears to redirect attention to the people in power, instead of the masses that support them. Shadowy figures fill their faces with grapes and steak in a sombre dining room; a cardinal and a green-clad man sit back in golden chairs – while in additional pieces a pair comfort one another in a landscape strewn with corpses, and a female figure, maybe Schutz herself, rests naked, forlorn and helpless in a bed.

Inspirations and References

This is ultradense, thickly layered stuff, covered in allusions. You’ll find the dreamy surreal symbolism of a symbolist master, the fleshy pink cartoonishness of Philip Guston, the festive bizarre elements of a Belgian artist, the large-headed oddities of Paul McCarthy. She includes nods on the history of painting, countless nods to pop culture (I am almost 100% sure that one painting is a portrait of a cartoon character from SpongeBob SquarePants). You could spend hours spotting all the elements from classic painters with which she’s littered the artworks.

The Example by the exhibitor.

Meaning and Stories

Art this complex, complex and allegorical leaves itself open to analysis. I feel as if I’m being quizzed on the symbolism of a Titian but, in my view, there are two relatively clear themes: the people in power, and the public that they provoke.

Controversy and Impact

And Schutz should know about such dynamics. Back in 2017, her artwork a titled piece – a semi-abstracted depiction of the body of a historical figure, a young African-American who was lynched by racist perpetrators in a southern state in 1955 – caused untold controversy when it was displayed at the Whitney Biennial. Critics charged her of profiting from tragedy for her own gain. An activist picketed the painting daily, and some demanded it to be removed. An artist of European descent painting – arguably with great sympathy – a image of African-American suffering was the major headline of the event. This marked the height of the recent social conflicts, a period that featured infighting even if they were on the same side. Looking back now, in a society increasingly polarized, less nuanced and more hostile than ever, it feels almost quaint that individuals found moments to get angry at this emotional, mournful artwork.

Aftermath and Recent Art

It could have ruined her professional life, and the artist likely aims to progress. But all her subsequent work since exists in its shadow. She inevitably emerged of that ordeal a changed artist. But what hasn’t changed is her exceptional skill, how she continues to practice in masterful, unsettling, gloopy and deeply political painting at the highest level.