Cody Hudson “Well I Thought It Was Already As Heavy As Can Be”
Chicago-based artist Cody Hudson explores a multitude of media within his practice, including painting, sculpture, mural, print-making, and graphic design. Well I Thought It Was Already As Heavy As Can Be illuminates Hudson’s diverse talent through a varied presentation of craft; his exploitation of repetition of color and shape creates a body of work that references a narrative of longing and hopefulness, while also finding context within contemporary abstract painting and sculpture.
Included in the exhibition are six acrylic paintings on linen and one on natural canvas, along with a group of powder-coated steel sculptures. The painting on canvas and largest work in the show, “Reasons to Quit (Sustained or Repeated Notes)”, is set against the gallery’s main wall, in which Hudson has hand-painted a corresponding mural. A prevailing influence on the artist’s work is the natural world—plantlife, landscapes, foliage—and the human emotions it ignites. The dialogue between the artist’s external environs and internal reflections play a key role in the development of his pieces; while Hudson seeks out shapes and forms in nature for initial inspiration, it’s ultimately his emotional response that informs the finished product. With the incorporation of the mural, Hudson involves the physical environment in which his artwork is situated, further contextualizing this narrative surrounding the interconnectedness between the internal and external.
Exemplified through his loosely abstract and imagined forms, Hudson is not concerned with representing his subject in its true form, but rather with looking to nature as a mental escape and transcending that experience into his work. The featured body expands on the artist’s formal language in response to the unique period of time in which the pieces were created. Initial exhibition preparation commenced in the final days of Spring 2021—significant decreases in COVID cases were reported for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, and nationwide restrictions began to lift. A collective sense of hope for better days ahead had emerged. It was with this attitude that Hudson dove into the works, yet, the feelings of optimism and relief did not last long, as it soon became clear that we may not be through the worst of things, after all. What began as simple, organically-inspired paintings turned into something much deeper; the creation of the paintings and sculptures in the exhibition served as an outlet for Hudson, a means of lifting his spirits during a depressing period of fear and uncertainty.
“Being in the studio daily helped keep me focused and kept me feeling more positive in dark times. To me, these works are inspired by nature, contemplation, breathing, repetition, ambient music, psychoactive plants, family and solitude,” Hudson says. Well I Thought It Was Already As Heavy As Can Be presents a beautiful and deeply personal collection of works that simultaneously resonates with any viewer through the shared experience of oscillating feelings when it comes to navigating life’s obstacles.
Press release and images via Louis Buhl, Detroit.