Speed Stick submerges 56 Henry in the slippery worlds of Jo Messer. In this suite of paintings, bodies, fish and gestures populate the panels, operating in the hazy space between figuration and abstraction. Speed Stick evokes motion, adhesion, and the deeply human aspects of being. In this presentation, Messer lays those uncomfortabilities bare. Messer’s representational forms seem to unabashedly slide, repeat, and slip off of her surfaces. Speed Stick embraces the unease: Do it fast. Do it messy. Do it a little bit wet?
