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Gallery HighlightsRichard Gibbons: Heads + Bodies June 6 - July 15, 2003
Roy Boyd Gallery Anonymity and identity deftly balance in this exhibition, which plays Gibbons's superb figure studies against 19 portraits of Chicago society women. The larger works explore the architecture of human form, its variety of poses, its energy and lassitude; the close-up portraits with their social hints of hair style, jewelry, and dress, as well as the choice of postures and expressions convey individuality, status and personality. Swathed in deep shadow, the artist's large canvases of uniquely-posed nudes -- the 'bodies' -- push the mind to see the body's patterns, its topography and architecture. Figures sprawl, tie into knots, or lay flat and motionless in long, narrow canvases suggestive of catacomb niches; dim, at times fathomless backgrounds recede like the unlit depths of a stage, their imperfect darkness holding all manner of suggestions and hints. Solitary III (oil on canvas: 55-1/2" x 55-1/2": 2002) evokes superbly flexible form, transformed by torsioned pose and dramatic lighting into an exploration of morphology, a series of sleek, fleshly bulges and twists. The figure curls into itself, becoming a broad swath of back lit as if with a spotlight, an incipient budding in its compact curl, the limbs compressed, but poised to unfold. Solitary I (oil on canvas: 55-1/2" x 55-1/2": 2002) reduces the body to planes of flesh, lambent with inner light, particularly against the umbrous background. The smaller canvases of the 'heads' highlight the concentration of identity and personality in the head and face. By presenting portraits of women known within Chicago society, Gibbons adds a further layer of identity: these are not just individual personalities, but women with a public presence as well. The delight of these works is in their non-traditional presentation. Julia Pernet (oil on canvas: 24" x 18": 2002) seems to listen with rapture to secret music, while Laura S. Washington (oil on canvas: 24" x 18": 2002) is portrayed in profile, her intent gaze privy to a vision only she can see. Marcie Love (oil on canvas: 24" x 18": 2002) is seen, surprisingly, from the back, ponytail gathered to reveal one ear and a bit of neck: the portrait in reverse. In its feature on the artist and his work, Chicago magazine notes that the artist in his portraits seeks to explore "how little it takes to visually convey someone's personality," and these illustrations of selfhood do reveal the aggregation of nonverbal hints by which we know ourselves and others. Juxtaposed, these works make for a intriguing show: the body as abstraction versus the individual in particular. Richard Gibbons: Heads + Bodies will be at Roy Boyd Gallery through July 15, 2003. --Katherine Rook Lieber Katherine Rook Lieber has edited ArtScope.net's Visual and Performing Arts reviews since 1998. Ms. Lieber is Editor and Associate Producer for ArtScope.net. Editorial Note: Books mentioned in ArtScope.net reviews are often in print and may be purchased through this site's Amazon.com link. |
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