Many artists are perfectly content to present their viewers with forms and figures, sometimes explicitly, sometimes couched in abstraction. Their work is about aesthetic value: composition, balance, dynamism, color, expression, often imbued with, or evocative of, human emotion.
But some artists use their pictures as a language that describes something unrelated to pure aesthetics.
The art is put in the service of cultural or political commentary.
Two such artists, both rebels in their distinctive ways, will be presented by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art from May 22-July 12 in what is certain to be remembered as one of the most significant shows the venue has organized.
