MacConnel, Kim: Edible (1979)

American painter Kim MacConnel (1946−) studied at the University of California, San Diego. He earned recognition in the 1970s with a decorative art that belonged to the universal restoration of painting. The composition consists of six vertical textile stripes of varying lengths, sewn together; their different patterns bear a strong resemblance to Matisse’s stylized, cut-out motifs. The artist calls his ornamentalist practice, the combination of motifs from other cultures, “souvenirism.” The works, which are individual hybrids of Pop Art and Minimalist traits, employ an almost primitive palette and set of motifs. The compositions establish encounters between objects of contemporary culture, like television sets, and the archaic decorative desire of man, which becomes manifest in abstract shapes like the line, the dot or the circle. His work aligns him with the New Image and Pattern Painting trends.