RICHARD HAWKINS’s solo exhibition—his eighth at Greene Naftali—follows desire where it leads, in twin pursuit of art historical fandom and the lure of the celebrity crush. The paintings on view pay tribute to the work of Pierre Bonnard, as Hawkins filters the late Impressionist’s touch through his own hand and boy-crazy obsessions. The new works channel Bonnard’s caressing eye and the reckless hedonism of his color, producing what Hawkins calls "faulty, poetic translations" of his sources.
Hawkins takes Bonnard interiors and landscapes as prompts to loosen those genres from their genteel moorings, studding his lush, dappled gardens with floating faces of pretty young men. The artist lays his kink pastorals with "captivation traps"—passages of heightened detail that snare the viewer's attention, perverse and arresting.
