Description

Los Angeles-based artist Craig Kauffman has been creating vacuum-formed plastic wall reliefs since the 1960s, when he gained notoriety as a so-called Finish Fetish artist. Members of this West Coast movement used technological processes and materials, such as polymer, plastics, and paints, to create smooth, high-gloss works of art. For example, the native southern California tradition of customizing surfboards, boats, and automobiles with painted flames and panoramic scenes influenced Kauffman and his fellow Californian Don Eddy. Like the minimalist artists who gained notoriety later in the 1960s, Kauffman's super-slick, clean-edged aesthetic was achieved by adapting industrial manufacturing processes to art making. Here, the art object is a section of injection-molded plastic. While the "painting's" smooth surface and iridescent, Day-Glo green color are visually enticing, the object itself does not invite the viewer to touch and appreciate its physicality.