GeorGe SeGal - Kean University
GeorGe SeGal - Kean University
GeorGe SeGal - Kean University
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enough? Should the linoleum beneath the plaster<br />
figures be discarded? the open bag of plaster?<br />
the rafters of his studio?<br />
on the other hand, the most obvious<br />
characteristic of Segal’s work is his consistent<br />
use of isolated figures within contexts that are<br />
widened by his skill in selecting evocative props<br />
(the perfect motel bed in The Motel Room,<br />
the shower stall of Shower Stall, the metal<br />
corner-guard affixed to The Parking Garage).<br />
this characteristic suggests the paintings of<br />
Edward Hopper. the mood is somewhat the<br />
same, as is the mode. And, like Hopper, Segal<br />
is not an American Social-realist, but a poeticrealist.<br />
this phrase seems to be an unnatural<br />
conjunction of polarities. reality, however—if we<br />
mean by “reality” total rather than exclusively<br />
cerebral or visual experience—is unavoidably<br />
poetic and not, contrary to certain therapeutic<br />
but false philosophies, composed of mere facts.<br />
Facts when inspected with even a minimum<br />
degree of attention dissolve into ephemeral<br />
sense data or, on the other hand, into vague<br />
subjective states. Segal is able to transform<br />
facts—shoes, drinking glasses, subway cars—<br />
into emotions.<br />
In regards to the plaster figures themselves,<br />
11<br />
Art News 1968