Chester Arnold Analysis

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http://cclarkgallery.com/dynamic/artwork_detail.asp?artworkid=239
Chester Arnold can be characterized as one of the world’s leading advocates for environment and social responsibility. No, he is not a politician. Chester Arnold is an artist. Through his work he criticizes the human existence on the natural environment, emphasizing the impact of a consumer driven world, human intervention on landscape, and dense populations. His enormous oil paintings of landscapes that are full of waste and destruction, clearly direct from man’s “hand”, evoke overwhelming and frightening feelings.  Arnold paints traditionally of 19^th century European artists. Caspar David Friedrich and Albrecht Altdorfe, both German Romantic painters, have been very influential on Arnold. (Vanessa Vancour) Although his technique can be considered traditional, Arnold’s art includes postmodern techniques and “the contemporary sublime” in many of his works. It is the biblical referencing used in his paintings, the natural environment, and the chaos of mankind that lead a plurality of styles. (Henry Sayre) His paintings also seek to “describe the seemingly infinite, immeasurable vastness of the earth and the universe beyond”. (Nevada Museum of Art)

            After seeing some of Arnold’s work in person at the Nevada Museum of Art, one of his paintings spoke to me, actually visually screamed. This painting is titled Thy Will be Done and was painted in 2006. At first glance this large-scale painting looks like a mob of workers digging holes and filling up containers at a barren, muddy construction site. After more careful observation, I realized this was actually a horrific visual depiction of brutal murders and beatings.  These atrocities are being committed by men of all sorts, some in what looks like officer uniforms, others in plain clothes.  These violent attacks are hidden by groupings of workers. The scene eerily reminds me of descriptions of the Holocaust. The title of this painting is directly pulled from the Lord’s Prayer.  It is believed the “Kingdom will come by the hands of those faithful to work for a better world”. (Lord’s Prayer) Perhaps Arnold intended to show his cynicism of man’s true motives. To me, his painting represents genocide, discrimination, violence, and war without regard to its effects not only on the human race, but to the environment. Arnold has truly captured the tragic, undeniable effects of human progress in his paintings. Although marvelously intriguing, the dark humor of his works brings about a reality usually shadowed by the power of corporations and public demand. (Affiliated Artists)  His work becomes increasingly invaluable as human existence continues to erode the natural environment, but will his cautions be heard?

Works Cited

"Affiliated Artists Chester Arnold." Welcome to Linda Hodges Gallery, Contemporary West Coast, and American Art. Web. 17 Sept. 2010. <http://lindahodgesgallery.com/artists/arnold.html>.

"Lord's Prayer." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 17 July 2010. Web. 17 Sept. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord's_Prayer>.

Sayre, Henry M. "The Design Profession." A World of Art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. 402. Print.

Vancour, Vanessa. "Official Reno Tahoe USA Blog » Chester Arnold." Official Reno Tahoe USA Blog. 2 Aug. 2010. Web. 17 Sept. 2010. <http://blog.visitrenotahoe.com/tag/chester-arnold/>.