Critics’ Picks, Joshua Mosley
Brian Sholis, Art Forum, Critic Picks, October, 2004

Joshua Mosley
DONALD YOUNG GALLERY
933 West Washington Boulevard , Chicago , Illinois
September 17- October 30, 2004

Joshua Mosley's seven-minute video A Vue, 2004 , presents the story of Henry , a simple man whose duties as a park ranger largely consist of caring for a small town's 150-foot tall monument to George Washington Carve r. The work compresses the intricacies of one of Henry's relationships-a halting pas de deux with Susan, an employee of a local fiber optics company- into a story without a lot of action. Henry polishes the monument, drives to the store, and prepares food at home; when he's with Susan, their suppressed desires are channeled through small talk about the pleasures of their jobs. The benevolently smiling Carver (also seen in another room of the gallery as a 24" bronze sculpture) would approve of their devotion to their work. The cartoonish simplicity of the video - like that of Henry and Susan 's relationship hides a more complex reality: Mosley's process mixes digitally photo graphed stop-motion puppet s, footage of the bronze sculpture, and ink-wash-painted backgrounds. A plaintive score by Abby Schneider adds to the melancholic air. As the video loops , Henry and Susan are doomed to repeat their faltering attempts at communication, and Mosley strikes chords that resonate beyond the narrow confines of his characters' lives.