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Two Young DC-area artists salvage the art of the self-portrait Copyright Washington Post Express Thursday, November 13, 2003; Page 14 "Reprinted with permission from the Washington Post"GALLERIES - The art of portrait painting is rather out of style among young contemporary artists, unless the sitters are grotesque, imaginary or so famous as to render the reproduction of their very images iconic But for a couple of young local talents now on display at Fraser Gallery, the mirror is fraught with enough love, loathing and history to feed the painters sense of drama as well as their aesthetic needs. Scott Hutchison creates unflinching, dramatic portraits of himself, some in extreme close-up, in an ancient-church-walls palette of grays, browns and blues, and paints female nudes, truncated Courbet-style or elongated, in brilliant rich pastels. Caroline Danforth uses her brush with as much agility as she twists and poses. Her small oils on wood focus on the sinuous, sinewy curve of her spine or her broad, frank facial features, and she mixes the tender pinky-beige of her flesh tones with a poisonous green for the shadows These artists are finding new ways to observe the human body using a most old-fashioned technique. Fraser Gallery Bethesda, 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, Bethesda; show opens Fri. Nov 14; gallery hours Tues-Sat 11:30 am - 6 pm; 301/718-9651. © 2003 The Washington Post Company |
