Talk about a dramatic re-entry. As Tampa resident Roger Palmer celebrated his first solo exhibition since the 1980s this summer at the University of South Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum, viewers first encountering his work wondered how such a talent could fly so far under the radar. Palmer’s drawings mused on humanity’s combative nature and the banality of carnage in visual and verbal aphorisms; his illustrative style and taste for surreal color gave the work a fresh, contemporary feel. Perhaps we should all retreat to the studio for so long.
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2008.