CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITURE
June 22, 2018 - July 15, 2018
Portraits can represent individuals in many different ways. They can be literal representations of a person or they can represent a person symbolically.
As though freed from the burden of realism, portrait painters of the time began to explore new ways to represent people, breaking with the literal and representational portrait of the previous era.
By the turn of the 20th century, in addition to art making its way into homes of the middle class, photographs had become the most accessible and popular mode of portraiture.
Our fascination with “self,” and the infinitely varied and complex exploration of representational human psychology and symbology continues today with the pervasive use of smart phones to capture and share portraits in ways never before imagined.
Join us as we explore the complex fabric and direction of contemporary portraiture as the theme for the grand opening of Black Box Gallery.
JON PARLANGELI
DETROIT PAINTER - My work is seeded in process painting and material discovery. Elements of sculpture inhabit the unique dimensional aesthetic of each work (thanks John Chamberlain), and through said process and discovery each piece becomes a bounty of visual elements. They represent the NEW BEAUTY- our· complex evolution as technology integrates and becomes as important andunconscious as breathing or eating.
Process is everything to my work, and generally outweighs the final product in terms of importance. The juicy pleasure of contrivance; the informational and emotional release of creation become intoxicating. Process becomes art, and art is process.
The completed works persist through a crowded field with their own distinct voice, and to me they are both the visual and tactile answer I have been searching for over many years. They represent a strong personal understanding of where we are as a people today ... complicated, curious, ever changing. They are predatory, hedonistic and define the New Beauty
ARTIST LIST
Alyssa Klash
Ann Smith
Audrey Zofchak
Barbara Melnik Carson
Carl George
Christian Holtzer
Desiree Kelly
Donna Hinson
Elise Martin
Garrett Burke
Gil Ashby
Haydar Alyasiry
Jaimie Criswell
Jeni Wheeler
Kyle Sharkey
Matt Garin
Mohamad S. Bazzi
Patricia Izzo
Paula Zammit
Sanda Cook
Sarah Alcodray
Sarah Shackleford
Sasha Corder
Slaw
Tom Livo
William Black
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