Transits Through Finalities In Robert Gunderman’s This End

at AF Projects, Los Angeles (through October 12)
Reviewed by Eve Wood

Robert Gunderman’s current exhibition at AF Projects could be understood as both a meditation on the nature of time and an investigation into the elusiveness of memory. The title of the exhibition, This End, powerfully yet simply encapsulates and personalizes the idea of transition and death, how each of us, burdened as we are within our own physical vessels, must contend with the ever-impending notion that we too will pass. Gunderman sees this “passing” as an opportunity for self-awareness and exploration wherein the “end” might just become yet another beginning.

Gunderman approaches painting as an alchemist might attempt to negotiate the proto-scientific nature of all living systems, i.e. with extraordinary gentleness, curiosity and a painstaking attention to detail — to the living, thriving pulse of the universe. One might be so bold as to say this is a tall order, yet Gunderman rises to the occasion with virtuosity, and always at the heart of his practice, the awareness that we are the stewards, failing though we are, of this sanctified world.

Gunderman builds microcosms, entire universes blossoming within the confines of color and shape, yet the work stems from a fascination with how nature operates on a cellular level, how it tricks and seduces us while at its core, it is indeed merciless. Drawing on references as varied as Peter Wohlleben, a German Forester…