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Joe Heaps Nelson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GOOD CHEER
The Cheerleader Paintings of Joe Heaps Nelson
October to December 2009
Gawker Media Headquarters

New York, NY: Gawker Artists presents GOOD CHEER, a solo show of cheerleader paintings by Joe Heaps Nelson and the latest exhibition in the Art@Gawker series. Brooklyn-based Gawker Artist Joe Heaps Nelson has been 'glorifying the inconsequentials' of American life in vivid color for more than two decades and capturing the surreal world of cheerleading since 1999.

Heaps Nelson's cheerleader paintings in GOOD CHEER are inspired by new and vintage photographs of High School's most and least glamorous extra-curricular activity: cheerleading. Instantly as captivating as they are controversial, they have the straightforward presentation of a yearbook picture, frozen in time, and the uncomfortable voyeurism of peering through very clear binoculars from under the bleachers. A 2007 review by Dethroner describes Heaps Nelson's cheerleaders as 'simultaneously capturing the unspoiled innocence of the nubile young girls, leaving us with a sense of, for lack of a better way to express it, relaxed unease. It's non-confrontational but leaves you subject to your own criteria. It's a nifty trick.'

In all of his paintings Heaps Nelson is fascinated by how we futilely try to capture and document the past: the photo, the portrait, the yearbook. His frozen, lithe young cheerleaders are painted with a flatness and gaudiness that highlights their absurd cheerfulness just as it celebrates the desire to capture that fleeting spirit. Gawker Artist's show of GOOD CHEER presents Heaps Nelson's delightful contradictions at their best. Fascinating and uncomfortable, guilty and pure, childish and intellectual – all this from Cheerleaders.

Joe Heaps Nelson's Artist Statement

The 25 classic paintings in this exhibit represent the apex of Heaps cheerleader period.

The series began in 1999. At first, I found the project amusing. That fall, I was thrown out of a high school football game in DuQuoin, Illinois, by the principal and the police, for photographing the cheerleaders. My friend Antony Zito said, "Heaps, I think you may be onto something."

Two years later, the attacks of September 11 inspired me to even greater dedication because I knew it was crucial for me to continue painting cheerleaders. Otherwise, obviously, the terrorists would win.

I felt I had discovered something. Viewed anthropologically, cheerleading is an exceedingly odd phenomenon, but nobody really notices because it's so common it's taken for granted. Literally millions of girls (and a few dudes) practice acrobatic routines for hours each day to convey spirit and/or pep. As they say on Broadway, "that's entertainment!" It's small town glamour, small time showbiz, Girls Gone Weird. It's like transforming yourself into a human cartoon. Like the cowboy, the astronaut, or the hooker with a heart of gold, the cheerleader has become an American archetype.

Also, nobody else was doing it.

So, what are the paintings really about? Even after ten years as the world's leading cheerleader painter, I confess to some ambivalence. I love it when viewers share their interpretations with me. Last year, in conversation, my friend Elizabeth DeHaven succinctly and eloquently stated, "In school, they teach you to cheer for your school, but really they're teaching you to cheer for America." Go, fight, win!

Joe Heaps Nelson Interview by Brock Forsblom