Megan and Murray McMillan

Anthony Goicolea, Blizzard, 2001
Image used with permission from the artist

Anthony Goicolea, Poolpushers, 2001
Image used with permission from the artist

Anthony Goicolea’s photographs, videos and drawings recently exhibited at the Arizona State University Art Museum will stay in your head. His magic-realistic allegories blend childish innocence and animal indifference/brutality. The end result fuses both adult anxiety and adolescent brazenness: simultaneously being in and out of control. This awkward location is reinforced by Goicolea’s use of autobiographically choreographing himself as both the controller and as the one being controlled.

Goicolea’s personal politics shape private universals, an example of where art is going after postmodernism.

Although a few of his works trade narrative depth for mere cool (sex, drugs and rock n’ roll: think Matthew Barney), his commitment to both detail and generous scale frequently weave a story that’s even more impressive than the dramatic compositions that hold them: see Still Life with Tea (Kidnap Series, 2004) and Corn Field (Landscapes, 2002).