FREE SMELLS
Oil on Canvas
12” X 10”
Daniel Lindner
By James David Brodell, M.D.
In his paintings, Lindner rarely allows a viewer to successfully peer through the windows of a building. Also, to find a human figure of any significant size and stature is almost unheard of. He allows for the presence of both rarities in his gem, “Free Smells.” The purpose, likely, is to permit us to observe a young male, about ready to consume a sandwich at a local eatery, physically immersed in a highly personalized kaleidoscopic experience of shapes, shadows, colors and, perhaps, sounds!
The door to what would be anticipated as a bustling enterprise is readily identified by following a zig-zag pattern of stacked square tiles which forms the building’s foundation. Additionally, the scene gains depth as this short supportive wall shrinks into the distance, its grouting becoming progressively less distinct. The neon sign is a knock-your-eyes-out, forward advancing presence. An adjacent brightly-rendered checkerboard pattern fades in detail as this wide strip of decorative tile recedes from left to right. The viewer, then, is subtly guided from foreground to the rear of the eatery’s interior, from light to dark, from clarity to haze, from certainty to uncertainty. Each step of this journey, viewed as separate spaces distinctly framed by soaring rectangular plates of glass, combines to generate the overall narrative. This is reminiscent of early cartoon artistry in which segments of place, time and activity had to be meticulously and separately rendered before becoming animated by assembling them in sequence.
With sun splashing light from the upper left corner of the scene, the restaurant’s medallion throws an obliquely oriented shadow. Identifying lettering on the façade, painted flush to the building’s surface during its construction, has no such 3-D effect. Also directing viewer attention, and perhaps a descending pall of doom, the entryway’s roof casts shadows on the window frames and door stepping down from left to right.
Interior wall hangings and lighting fixtures have been rendered as obscured rectangles and ovals floating about the head of our dining patron, thereby enhancing a misty atmospheric effect. The only triangular element in the entire painting is formed by his arms, a distinctive design element rendered additionally eye-catching by being “clothed” in pastel greens and blues.
Sitting on the young man’s table is a dark rectangular item, probably a napkin dispenser, flanked by a bright Styrofoam drink container of circular contours. Because of their curious separation by one of the vertically oriented window frames, one wonders if the stark contrast of these everyday objects, angular and curvilinear, black and white, could be symbolic of the eternal conflict between good and evil, hope and despair?
Pausing before devouring his sandwich, our hero appears momentarily distracted. His sight line, reinforced by the fading horizontally oriented checkerboard wall pattern, returns us into the darkened abyss. What has he heard? Is he about ready to spring into action to thwart a common criminal at the cash register? This saga, the boredom of a routine meal about to evolve into the stark terror of courage confronting treachery, may be about to unfold!
