Newman, Lia, Mark Sloan, and Roger Manley — Bob Trotman: Business As Usual

Charleston, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, 2017. Hardcover. White and illustrated boards with black cloth spine. 132 pp. Color illustrations. As the catalogue that accompanies an exhibition of the same name, "Bob Trotman: Business as Usual" contextualizes the development of Trotman's caustic sculptures over the last decade. Bitingly critical of institutional and political power, Trotman's wooden sculptures draw on the tradition of the often larger-than-life statues outside old cigar shops and the figureheads on ships' bows. The artist's practice of painting these wooden figures also recalls the medieval tradition of wooden religious statues, and with this connection he simultaneously deifies and lambastes contemporary wielders of power such as businessmen and politicians. Using the vernacular of these so-called show figures, Trotman's work reveals the elaborate posturing of wielders of power, privilege, and pretense that secretly, or not so secretly, shape the world we live in. -FirstSearch. New in shrinkwrap.