Artwork Description
Scott Greene – SNAFU
Dimensions: 30 x 40″ unframed
Year: 2015
Medium: oil on canvas on panel
Scott Greene’s oil on canvas on panel work, SNAFU, can be accurately interpreted from its title; snafu is a little-known english word which refers to something chaotic or a state of mess. Greene depicts a scene of disorder, where broken bottles burn in the foreground of the piece and discarded items, indicative of a past human presence, litter the scene. The work is reminiscent of an apocalyptic event, where the trash and forgotten structures draw on Greene’s fascination with the relationship between beauty and environmental exploitation. The painting is gorgeous in its sublime beauty—reminiscent of the opulence of an Ingres painting, with its satiny, overflowing suitcase.
Scott Greene’s work is not associated with a definitive time period, but instead, works to integrate art historical and classical elements into a more contemporary approach. Greene’s work functions as a form of socio-political commentary and “uses the composition of a historical work as a matrix for making a painting that humorously examines the relationship between politics, nature and culture”. Greene draws on themes such as beauty, popular culture, and the natural environment in an additive artistic process that emphasizes the visual and temporal effects of building rather than executing a work in a single instance. After studying in California and receiving his BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, Greene moved to New Mexico, where he received his MFA in painting and has since lived for almost 30 years. Greene’s work derives much of its influence from this matrix; where he describes that, “the expansive space, vivid light and western frame of reference informs the narrative content in my work, and the alien beauty of high desert skies serve as backdrops for many compositions”. Greene also touches on the complex interplay between beauty and environmental exploitation within his oeuvre—an issue he sees as being both pertinent to and prevalent within New Mexico, today.