Eric Fischl: The “Bad Boy”

Eric Fischl - A Visit To / A Visit From / The Island - 1983 - Oil on canvas - 84 × 168 in. (213.4 × 426.7 cm) - Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. (click photo for larger image)“Neo-Expressionism” refers to an art movement that developed in the early and mid-1980s. A reaction against the remote and highly intellectual art produced by the Minimalists and Conceptual artists, the Neo-Expressionists returned to portraying the human body and other recognizable objects. Their styles were diverse and they came to dominate the art market.

“In the 1970s and 80s, Eric Fischl (born 1948) became Neo-Expressionism's noted bad boy with his psychologically charged depictions of American suburbia.”  Raised by a severely depressed and alcoholic mother, Fischl’s work was heavily influenced by his dysfunctional childhood. He explores the darker sides of human behaviors and relationships that exist beneath the manicured facade of society. “I vowed that I would never let the unspeakable also be unshowable. I would paint what could not be said.”

The diptych featured here juxtaposes two polar scenes in comparable settings. On the left, a family enjoys a sunny day by the sea. in the companion scene on the right, a group of poorly clothed men and women frantically cross the shore as dark waves crash upon it. “Fischl confronts the irony of island resorts, locations sought out by vacationing families while simultaneously fled by native groups.”