1980-1987 Oils

God as an Outlet, 1980, Oil on Paper

60 X 60 INCHES

Critical Perspectives at P.S. 1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York

“... they convey a sense of beating a dead horse ... none have critical mass as art.”

– Donald Kuspit, ARTFORUM, 1982

… All the works deal with the topical theme of violence, more precisely of power. Some are searing, some are quietly ironical; all mean to be trenchant. Yet as a whole they convey a sense of beating a dead horse, in their mood of impotent rage as well as stylistically. They all raise the pressing point of art’s critical impact, its capacity to participate in social change by arousing conscience; but none have critical mass as art. Kevin Teare’s paintings seem most typical in this, their slurring of visual syntax masked by their mimesis of camouflage. …