April 4, 2008

Lucy Hogg, a former co-resident of mine at the late, lamented Millenium Art Center (for more about that, see Mark Planisek, above) opened her Flashpoint show tonight, Titled "Floating Faces," these paintings use faces captured from old master works, each floating on a monochromatic oval and each displaying what Lucy calls a "proto-photographic moment" - a fleeting expression. 

Lucy's work has for some years been concerned with moving the imagery of art history into contemporary terms. I often find that conceptual work leaves me cold, but this installation has a powerful aesthetic appeal based, I think, on the drama of the monochromatic effect (think theater masks), the compelling technique of the portraiture and the facial expressions. I find the just slightly smaller than life-sized faces quite eerily compelling. Some examples below:

Sondra Arkin

Jayme McLellan