Crisis of Trust: Leonardo Kaplan’s The Citric Fragment, Cornelia, Issue 14
Crisis of Trust
Leonardo Kaplan’s The Citric Fragment
by Stephanie Cristello
In a collection of new works recently on view in his solo exhibition The Citric Fragment at Rivalry Projects, Chicago-based artist Leonardo Kaplan explores the dissonance of the contemporary American condition, and the national relationship to religion, through mediated images. Across his paintings, the artist portrays public figures alongside members of once-fringe sects whose beliefs have become increasingly normalized in the current context of the United States. For Kaplan, the mainstreaming of these ideals is made possible by a society whose undying allegiance to Christianity is defined by mega churches, religious theme parks, and opportunistic crime under the guise of faith.
