SKI TEAM?

Having grown up on the foothills of the Wasatch mountain range and skiing on the steep slopes of Alta Utah, Tom Judd’s ski jumpers speak of a different time and place.  They are not the sleek and spandex-clad figures that one usually sees today, nor do they seem to be particularly interested in grabbing attention for themselves.

We are not sure where these folks are coming from or where they are going?   Rather, they feel lost and displaced, yet blissful, existing in their own imagined reality, as if they are wandering in the vortex of time itself, a sort of existential departure from the proverbial trail.

The mountains gleam like inspiring Calendar art, they welcome us to this dreamy landscape, where we find these figures that fly through the air. As with much of Judds artwork, the paintings are funny, yet have a sense of unease with contradictory messages pulling us in different directions. We are not sure what we are looking at, or laughing at?  Judd thinks this is just reflecting the inherent surrealistic occurring of our everyday lives. He refers to it as “The illusion of order and reason.”

One of Judd’s favorite quotes from Sam Sheppards play The Tooth of Crime is “You just don’t know. So, here’s another illusion to add to your confusion of the way things are.”