FRANCIS ACEA: FORBIDDEN POETRY OF A GOLDEN LEAF

Francis Acea: Golden Years. Painted park-picked leaf and decorative frame, 19 x 16 in. 2007

http://www.francisacea.com/

By  Dinorah Pérez Rementería

   In his famous treatise Utopia, Sir Thomas More affirmed: “there are many things that in themselves have nothing that is truly delightful (…), and yet, from our perverse appetites after forbidden objects, are not only ranked among pleasures, but are made even the greatest designs, of life.” Gold has been historically associated with wealth, health and prosperity, because of its non-corrosive properties and attractive color. The book of Exodus in the Old Testament, for instance, talks about offerings of gold brought up to God. These offerings were made by Moses and the rest of the Israelites, after having been rescued from the Egyptian Empire where they were forced to serve as slaves for many years. Gold is, of course, a symbol of money. People have organized gold rushes while “alchemists” have tried to (re)create the powerful metal in their laboratories. Although gold also has negative connotations, we still tend to see “golden” things like medals, teeth, rings, earrings, and Globes as a sign of affluence, incentive and reward.

   Francis Acea shows his collection of tree leaves at Pan American Art Projects. Purposively isolated from the rest of the artworks, the assortment of leaves becomes the most controversial element of the artist’s Doing Business as…series. The concept of business intersects with that of spirituality and ritualistic practices. The artist “sanctifies” the leaves by covering them with a golden coat as though they were consecrated to the divine Business Beings (riches, success, and public recognition). Through the process of sanctification, the art of doing business develops into a sacred ritual in which the main source of inspiration is none other than making money. Hasn’t money indeed befitted a spiritual motivation among the people? Tree leaves may be considered a mark of regeneration of the human race, and here they have been beautified, set apart, and preserved within ornamented frames.

    Acea’s leaves propose a new understanding of concepts like kitsch and pop as a means of purification and conservation. In contrast to Jeff Koon’s sculptures that magnify banality, apathy and inertia while serving themselves as “playthings for the rich” or tributes to tackiness, as many critics suggest, Acea’s leaves teach us how to gracefully embrace the poetry of our lives although we can’t escape from a noxious, unhealthy desire for achievement and success. Sometimes, ordinariness and repetitiveness are very helpful in the task of fulfilling business goals. Why, then, do we feel so afraid to recognize that trivial, “unimportant” things of life play a role as significant as our most precious thoughts? In reference to the underlying principle of his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde announced that “we should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.” In other words, even if we were conscious of the ludicrous character of our surroundings, we would have to learn to polish certain skills that help us assume an influential yet flexible position in it. That is why, people’s attitudes very often may not be consistent with the way they would genuinely think or act. Such postures, nonetheless, are thought as having a great value in achieving success.

    How do we define success, however? Can’t we be successful at observing the buried structure of a golden leaf? Is success invariably connected to business and money? The thirst for success can derive from societal pressures that induce us to foolishly judge ourselves and others, and it may also relate to our perverse appetites after forbidden objects, things that are not “truly delightful,” for their very features are elusive. In truth, irrationality and non-sense are intrinsic ingredients of the world we live in. (Shouldn’t there be any other worlds available?). Many crucial playwrights like Beckett, Ionesco and Genet have successfully exposed the pointlessness of theirs in their work. Similarly, Francis Acea illustrates to what extent making art has transformed into a cloaked traders’ village, a golden farce, a joke that, for some incongruous reason, we still feel compelled to worship and praise.