“You do portraits. Why don’t you have a piece in this show.” I can’t remember who asked me that when we walked into Studio 402. It seems they have an annual self-portrait show. That would be a lot of self portraits if you submitted a piece each year. I participated once with an abstract piece. And I was big on anonymous portraits for a while.
I found the piece above the most interesting in this year’s show. No idea who he is but I feel I got to know him through this piece better than I did the others. It is striking, first of all, in color and posture. I found myself staring into his eyes the way he appears to be staring back at us. And I like seeing the struggle to get volume into the plane – the side of the head coming forward. It stands out among the academic portraits. I like the bold signature and the cross worn on the outside of his shirt. Are those three crosses in his signature?
Over at RoCo for the Members Show, the second time for us, I settled on this piece as my favorite. Although I wish the two figures had just a little more room and the black frame was not so strong an element. I had to look up goldpoint. Minor quibbles. I love the drawing.
Unique Fair paints like an old master and I love his show up now at the Little Theatre Café. It was just a few months back when I posted a photo of his paintings that were on display at RoCo.
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