Desire Obtain Cherish, (T)Hirst. | Image: Courtesy of the artist
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Happiness is often cited as the primary means for human decision-making. In fact, it's the elusive characteristic and lens that the majority of the public claims to desire and work for in their professional and personal pursuits. Whether happiness is understood through beauty, finances, sex, or intelligence, artist Jonathan Paul aka Desire Obtain Cherish is fascinated with this pursuit and the human decisions involved in such a journey.
DOC explains: I believe people dont really want to be happy - I should say people dont want to be unconditionally happy. Were ready to be happy provided we have this and that and the other thing. But this is really to say to our friend, or to our idea of success, or to our dreams, You are my happiness. If I don't get you, I refuse to be happy.'
The moniker Desire Obtain Cherish represents the three stages of consumerism and has served as an unofficial manifesto for the artist: I was out wheat pasting on Melrose Boulevard one night and I looked up to this huge well-lit billboard. The streets were dark, it was about 3 a.m. and not another soul around. I dont really remember what it was selling, but it clearly hit me at that moment. The message was screaming down from the sky, You should want this, you should buy this - youre gonna love this. Desire. Obtain. Cherish.'
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A former design professional and theory graduate, he's leveraged this background to establish himself as an artist who turns the table on our understanding of visual culture. Expecting happiness around every corner, these plans and desires, while well intentioned, often lead to frustration and discontent.
DOC entered the art scene in Los Angeles utilizing the platform of street art, yet he appears to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. While his guerrilla-style art installations are a mantra and symbol of success in street art, these highly visible and sometimes dangerous stunts appear to be a means to an end. In fact, the artist is self-deprecating when describing his work, often undercutting the very accomplishments that have brought him attention.
I like to think of myself as a conceptual artist. The streets were one avenue to pursue ideas that were relatively easy. In the early days, it was the context of the street corners or walls or billboards that initiated my ideas, yet the craft was naturally crude and quick since the work had an expiration date on it as soon as it went up. As I transitioned to galleries, my ideas began to drive the work and dictate the materials to a higher level of craft. That has created tremendous room for new narratives and styles.
Desire Obtain Cherish, Flora & Fauna. | Image: Courtesy of the artist
Comparing the time-honored genre of still life with DOC's representations of happiness highlights this humor and deprecation. Studying inanimate objects like flowers, food, and assorted treasures has rich implications. The specific arrangement of these items allows the artist to use symbolism, religious themes, and different levels of abstraction to bring attention to ideas outside the actual still life itself. Essentially a lens to the world, these depictions are used to emphasize a wide variety of topics that may include the afterlife through food items, displays of wealth with a combination of rare objects, or even the pursuit of knowledge by means of books and instruments.
DOC references the history of still life with pieces like Flora and Fauna and PharmaSee, which are a departure for the object-oriented artist known for his sculptures of lollipops, designer drugs, and fun appropriations of pop culture. Beginning with flowers, a staple in still life paintings, he then inserts pills, the contours of archetypical anime figures, and globs of paint that dwarf the proportions of the objects they obscure.
Desire Obtain Cherish, Servant to Infinite Distraction. | Image: Courtesy of the artist
The multi-panel piece entitled Servant to Infinite Distraction pits this anime landscape against rich and expressionistic brush strokes. A battle of signifiers, the luminous and purposefully abstract marks dominate earthly desires much like a network censor. Ironically, the luxurious surface of the paint is a more attractive element than the two-dimensional figures it obscures, creating an odd tension of elements. DOC sees this as An endless supply of choices that creates endless distractions. The distraction itself became my focus rather than the choices. The real freedom wasnt in making choices. The real freedom was in accepting that the choices made, truly didnt matter. A war between surface level aspirations and carnal craving, the configuration of the human-sized panels frame the multi-panel piece, as though it is something to worship.
DOC utilizes this cacophony of themes to elevate the heightened emotions of the viewer that impair good judgment. Essentially, a collection of external characteristics, we know they collectively and individually rarely bring happiness, especially when we consider the long-term impact, but that does not stop the piece from being a mirror for these decisions.
Desire Obtain Cherish, Any Significance Has Been Lost. | Image: Courtesy of the artist
The idea of perfection seems realistic in this world but it is an egotistic worldview that's required to purport such an image. The painting Any Significance Has Been Lost, references the conundrum of being important and desirable in a culture that does not value the other. A whirlwind of pills is caught up in a twister of colorful paint gestures against a monotone background. Confusion reigns supre
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Desire Obtain Cherish, (T)Hirst. | Image: Courtesy of the artist 
