Schlockhausen

Growing up in New Jersey, schlockhausen had what he describes as a “normal suburban Catholic school childhood.” But compelled to make art from a young age, his influences clearly came from sources beyond Catholic school. The cartoons on TV and the Sunday comics, as well as the punk rock and post-punk music of 1975-85 left an indelible mark on his work. He recognizes Charles M. Shultz and Mark E. Smith (of the band The Fall) as major influences.
After receiving a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, he supported his art with a great variety of jobs. From jewelry assembler to artisan bread baker to most recently barista, he has always continued to create his unsettling and intriguing work. He has shown in various group shows in the NYC area as well as Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, and Paris. His first solo show was at the now defunct BLAST gallery in Teaneck, NJ.

His work recycles images from his childhood and current media, and he uses found material (newspapers, advertising, logos, garbage, gay magazines) to create his surfaces. Graphic elements and newspaper clippings interact with more natural appendages. The often-decaying surfaces of these works adds to the unnerving feeling of remembered images meeting more adult themes. In this work, laughs can mask more sensitive emotions. But the focus is on reframing images intended to control so that they themselves are now controlled.