February 13 – 16, 2020
Room 112
At Felix Art Fair 2020, Corbett vs. Dempsey is pleased to present work by three artists:
Carol Jackson, Ray Johnson, and Omar Velázquez.
Working in tooled leather, often ingeniously incorporating photographic images, Chicago-based
artist Carol Jackson deftly folds together a deep knowledge of decorative ornamentation and subject
matter that can turn macabre or desolate. Car accidents overlaid with blood-red fleur-de-lis,
abandoned hotel beaches shot from bug-filled surveillance cameras framed in modeled
cowhide – Jackson’s is a poetic post-apocalyptic vision cloaked in a comfy overcoat. Omar
Velázquez’s paintings are equally deceptive. With a delicious surface, a palette to get lost in, and
dizzying focal shifts, each of four canvases created especially for the Felix features a tropical bird
interacting with detritus, perching on a radio antenna or fashioning a makeshift sculpture out of
castoff string and toothbrush, perhaps an analogy for the rigors of daily life in Velázquez’s Puerto
Rican homeland. The booth also features two historical works by legendary New York collage and
correspondence artist Ray Johnson (1927-1995). In Johnson’s collages, a cartoon sense of humor
belies a dead-serious sensibility – intellect wrapped up in a fun package like a Trojan Rabbit.