Rives Granade
Müller Glia, 2023
Graphite, wax crayon, ink, dyed gesso, paper, thread, and oil on canvas
68 7/8 x 59 in
174.9 x 149.9 cm
A medical drawing of the human eye and its constituent parts serves as the underlying image of Rives Granade’s Müller Glia (2023). The Müller glia stem cells in the eye regenerate – much like the imagery in Granade’s paintings – their fork shape is evidenced in the upper part of the painting. On top of the eye, Granade drew a late Lee Bontecou sculpture and his grandmother’s house in rural Alabama – an image that also appears in the painting Scarlet Grey. Subtle paper collage elements are from scans of a 19th century Japanese Ukiyo woodblock print. Egyptian and Roman sphinxlike legs materialize throughout painting. The complexity of Müller Glia encapsulates Granade’s paradoxical use of legibility and opacity.
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