Kristopher Raos’ “No Escaping the Housework” is an eye-popping splash of vibrant color. His bold works are highly refined pop art which depict the packaging for a variety of different cleaning products. Technically untitled, each piece indicates a “product” name and color scheme. Created primarily in acrylic, cel vinyl and gouache on canvas, the works vibrate, not just with color but with a sense of fierce potency.

Kristopher Raos, installation view, 2022. Courtesy of Charlie James Gallery.

The 12 small paintings are emblematic of advertising gone wild. The products featured are classically vintage, employing a precise and perfect brushwork to immortalize the cleaning products of the past. Raos’ paintings seethe with energy, as if the action-oriented graphics could fly off the canvas in an intense drive to create sales and new, perfect products. In Untitled (No Escaping the Housework, Ajax), a bursting star of green promises “New En-Jax Action.” The assurance “100% Vegetal” is printed on the dark yellow star in Untitled (No Escaping the Housework, Roma).

Kristopher Raos, installation view, 2022. Courtesy of Charlie James Gallery.

The large-scale work Untitled (Lemon Fresh, Win) features a jagged red line that rises above a green portion below as though indicative of economic gain. Below this line in the lower right quadrant the word “Win” is printed so that it nearly runs off the canvas. Only the double “LL” of the word “all” is visible in Untitled (All complete, now repeat #5), with splashes of pale blue dripping off the letters like water. Raos creates similar images using other mediums such as colored pencil and paper. Shown in acrylic and on a canvas panel is the witty, free-standing sculptural piece Untitled (Washing Machine) which includes a bright green shirt sleeve peeking from the lid. Through “No Escaping the Housework,” Raos provides a smart social commentary on the push-pull of art and commerce.