Jim Torok: There is Nothing Wrong With You

Jim Torok: There is Nothing Wrong with You

Jim Torok
Self-portrait, 2012
oil on wood
3-3/4 x 3 x 1-1/16

Jim Torok
There Is Nothing Wrong WIth You, 2012
acrylic on wood panel
45 x 36 x 2 inches

Jim Torok
Go For It!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Not, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Life Is Great!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Don't Sweat the Big Stuff Either, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Give Up Again, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Thou Shalt Not Steal, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
It's Not That Easy, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
OK, I'm Washed Up, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Why Can't We Just Get Along?, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Things Could Be Worse, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Do Not Be So Negative, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Don't Give Up (yet)!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Look At This!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Reasons For Being Blocked, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Don't Give Up!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Do Not Worry Too Much, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Sorry, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Give Up, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Let's Just See What Happens, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
You Are Free!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Untitled, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
There Is Nothing Wrong With You, 2012
ink on paper
30 x 22 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Here!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Drempt I Could Fly, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Don't Wait Until Tomorrow, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Sleep Is Good, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
You Are Amazing, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Be Somebody!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Real, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Do Not Be Depressed, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
What Are You Looking At?, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Stormy Sky, Stormy Sea, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Keep On Trying, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Let's All Just Relax, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Feeling Quite Desperate, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
You Should Be More Grateful, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Things I Got to Do, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Whatever You Want, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Don't Look At This, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Remember When, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Don't Think About It, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Some Days Good, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Be Nice To People Less Fortunate, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Man, I Can't Win, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Wish That I Knew What I Was Doing, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Not An Asshole, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
OK!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Thank You For Your Kindness, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Keep On Tryin, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I'm Not Alone, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Good, Ok?, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Talk to My Mom Every Sunday, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Untitled, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Here!, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Didn't Do Anything Wrong, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Don't Forget, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Quite Good, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Not In the Whitney Biennial, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Untitled, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Please Stop Shitting on My Face, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
It's Ok To Be Wrong, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Untitled, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
I Am Not, 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Jim Torok
Hi., 2012
ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

September 08 – October 27, 2012

Opening reception: Saturday, September 8, 6-8 pm

Artist Talk: 7 pm

Lora Reynolds is pleased to announce our fifth solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist Jim Torok.

Jim Torok's work typically falls into two categories: hyper-realistic oil portraits on panel and drawings on paper of cartoon-like imagery. There is Nothing Wrong with You will include more than 50 new cartoon drawings and a self-portrait in oil.

The cartoons are spontaneous ink drawings on paper. The protagonist is Torok, represented by an over-developed stick figure with an oblong head and a big, round nose. Text provides a wandering, monologic storyline or sometimes just a simple catchphrase. Extreme but friable optimism abounds. These drawings chronicle the artist's quotidian struggles in a humorous light, combating melancholia with joy and exuberance.

I Drempt I Could Fly, for example, bears its title boldly across the top of the composition. It depicts a figure (whose nose is almost as big as his head) against a sky of watered-down blue and red ink, hovering just above a sliver of green. Small print at the bottom of the piece reads, "(But only a foot off the ground)" followed by an arrow pointing at the grass. A thought bubble containing, "Wow," emerges from the figure's head. Torok embraces spelling errors, poor penmanship, and a seemingly innocent style of drawing to emphasize the farcical nature of his cartoons.

Torok's small, intimate portraits, on the other hand, are so well rendered they are easily mistaken for photographs. All subjects are represented from the front, head and shoulders, holding a neutral expression. Torok paints from multiple photos taken during a single sitting to imbue a two-dimensional likeness with the subtleties a photograph cannot capture: the specific way a person blinks or breathes, the way her hair ripples and bounces. Torok has painted himself many times throughout his career, building a multivalent narrative around personal growth, mortality, and coming to know himself.

Torok's portraits and cartoons are the fruits of a rigorous exploration of the depths of the mind and the elusive details of physical appearance that compose a human identity. Torok is in pursuit of personhood and all of its polarities—sometimes unflattering, sometimes transcendent.

The release of Torok's first major artist's book, Portraits, will coincide with this exhibition. The book includes 82 of Torok's portraits made between 1996 and 2012 and essays by artist Michael Smith and curator Anne Goodyear, PhD.

Jim Torok was born in Indiana in 1954 and lives and works in New York. He has had solo exhibitions across the US regularly for the past 15 years. His work has been acquired by museums including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), and is in many important private collections around the world.

Jim Torok: There is Nothing Wrong with You

September 08 – October 27, 2012

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