80 Washington Square East, NYU

Philip Monaghan and David Trinidad

“Why Are You Doing This To Me?”

December 16, 2015 – May 8, 2016

Washington Square Windows

“Why Are You Doing This To Me?” is a visual statement that lifts the scenes from David Trinidad’s iconic poem “The Late Show” revealing the films referenced by the poem. The paintings portray the mock pathos and camp qualities the nineteen films embody. According to Trinidad, the result is sublime. The scenes unfold as the poem does, each frame delivered like a film spools through a projector, capturing the staccato rhythm of the poem. An often horrific quality prevails as each actress’s circumstance and character flaws result in them becoming victims, once again. Holland Cotter, reviewing Monaghan’s previous exhibition of paintings based on a poem by Tim Dlugos wrote, “Mr. Monaghan is admirably faithful to the poem’s text. His layering of painted and printed images reflects its fractured structure. His light-touch, straight-faced brushwork is perfectly suited to its plain-style language and affectless, though dimly forbidding tone.”

Image of a artwork in the exhibition. The drawing of the woman is in black and white, only her lips and eyes show a mere ounce of color. The image is blended and superimposed with an image of an old-fashioned telephone. The brushwork of the art is very visible and the woman seems to look into the distance with a concerned look on her face.
Image from the exhibition featuring a sketch of a woman's face with her mouth open as she looks off into the distance. The image is imposed over what seems to be the close-up of furniture with allusions to interior room in the background.
Image from the exhibition. A black and white drawing of a woman is superimposed over an image of rooftops. A man falls headfirst in the background, behind the outline of the woman's head. Only her eyes and lips include brush strokes of color. The woman's head stares straight ahead, with her lips slightly parted.