FENNIAK, Paul
From Donald Kuspit’s essay “Paul Fenniak: Psychosocial Realist”
“The best realism is not simply descriptive, however meticulous the description, but reflective – reflective on reality – and Fenniak’s works are profoundly reflective. Indeed they picture human beings beginning to reflect on their own reality, that is, becoming “realistic” about their fate – beginning to have insight into their own existences, the insight Fenniak already has. The best realism is not about accepting the common sense version of reality, but shows how strange and uncommon it is, inherently. It is about how unfamiliar yet universal feeling dwells in overtly familiar people. It breaks our habits of seeing to make us really “see” even as it shows us what is ordinarily seen. It shows us that things are not as simple and obvious as they seem. Appearances are deceptive but also unsettling – clues to emotional truth as well as its disguise.”
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