Penna describes the show as focusing on the idea that “I exist, because I am in the picture,” noting that photography revolutionized the world of painting. “When the photograph was introduced, the possibility of being immortalized became accessible to everyone, something which represented a social vindication, an economic means of assuring a slice of immortality.” Unlike the raw immediacy of a cell-phone selfie with its disposable artifice, Penna posits that the painted portrait – or photographic art form as portrait “slowly fixes an existence and a personality…something that lays one bare for all time and that cannot be cancelled…”
The gallery’s exhibition is described by Penna as “a kind of portrait that seems to look back at the observer: it looks and it seems to say ‘take care, I am the one who does the looking, I am looking straight through you and laying you bare: you cannot hide from me because it is me who controls the play of the gazes.’”
Each of the artists participating in the show give viewers this unblinking insight into the subjects they’ve shaped and documented and the viewer’s perception of them. Those exhibiting include: Carl Grauer, Justin Bower, Mary Cinque, Alex Schaefer, Annie Terrazzo, Alejandro Gehry, Antonella Masetti, and Jane Szabo.
It’s a wonderfully mixed bag: Masetti creates female figures that mix “the fragility and strength that represents the essence of femininity. I try to represent, through my paintings, our challenge: we do not fear you,” she says.
Gehry works with a long held interest in the history and decorative nature of military uniforms. “I wanted to paint the figure, and also incorporate the significance of historic military wardrobe by using the post Napoleonic ornate headwear of the First World War. I began making these paintings in 2013 with the intention to lead up to the centennial of the beginning of World War I. On January 24, 2013, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed the military’s ban on women serving in combat. This gave me the idea to adapt the series and swap the gender of the figures I was painting. The women represented in these paintings are wearing designated helmets of the countries that fought each other during the war.”
Szabo gives the viewer insight into person, place, and the individual’s place in their world. Her photographic work here brings an intimate look at the portraiture subject in the “wild” of their own environment: their homes. Providing a look at the life a person inhabits, the result is both an artifact and an exploration.
Schaefer offers fully alive portraits that seem to have flowed directly from the subject to brush to canvas. It is a kinetic connection to be savored.
Each of the artists create portraits that are immediate, visceral, and filled with character and contemporary style. They look at you, they meet you, they see through you – as the viewer sees into them.
Coming up November 2nd, Loft at Liz’s offers viewers the chance to participate in An Evening of Self-Expression, celebrating diversity and individuality. Attendees can have Schaefer paint their portrait in just 20 minutes.
Lilli Muller invites visitors to bring a piece of clothing to be painted to reflect personal style. Pick up a DIY henna tattoo kit or have one applied by a skilled artist; or arrange a portraiture session in your own home with Szabo.