Sarah has searched throughout that artsy city of Portland to bring you your gallery fix. Here's this week's selection.
Naked
Now, I know what you're thinking, "Yes, I love naked people in art!" Well don't we all, but you won't find it here, or at least not entirely. Naked is a group show of works on paper such as drawings, photographs, etchings and paintings by over 30 artists from both Maine and New York. June Fitzpatrick writes in her description of the show, "All works chosen exemplify states of exposure and vulnerability or are in themselves naked or bare or stripped down." Some of the subjects of the work reveal naked bodies, while other pieces reveal a side of the artist that is usually concealed, such as sketches or plans for a larger work. This concept breaks down the idea of what naked means. The artist can expose him or herself through revealing a side of his or her work not normally shown, or can just reveal good old fashioned flesh.
Bowdoin College is well represented with works by Mark Wethli, Thomas Cornell, Kyle Durrey and Cassie Jones as well as Rose Marasco, who taught at Bowdoin last semester. Marasco chose to show nine photographs she calls her "Torso Series." Each photograph is a bare torso of a woman with an ordinary object placed in it. Marasco makes the naked female body into a backdrop to showcase objects we would not normally focus on, like safety pins or a fishing line. The center image is a large wrench placed vertically on the body between the breast and down the stomach. One can see the weight of the wrench resting on the pale flesh as together they become one object, both industrial and sexual at the same time.
See it at June Fitzpatrick Gallery, 522 Congress St. and 112 High St. through November 30.
States of Heads: Unauthorized Portraits by Michael Stuart
In case you haven't gotten your dose of politics yet, this show features the faces of nine of your favorite politicians. The dense paint, thick lines, and close cropping around the face create caricature-like images of all-too-familiar people. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld looks like a watchful bulldog with his pinched lips and jowly cheeks. The center piece is none other than the 43rd President of the United States. Stuart portrays Bush as a nervous and feeble puppet. His mouth is pursed together as he looks over to the left, which in the picture plane is a dark blank space. Stuart also includes biographical timelines of each "man in power" he portrays, which transforms the painting into illustrations of a story that is unfolding around us.
See it at Space Gallery www.space538.org. 538 Congress St. Portland, through November 27.
Street Smart: Photographs of Garry Winogrand
It seems like a passing glance frozen in time until you look closer and notice the seamless composition forcing the viewer to recognize and comply with Winogrand's opinion of the scene. Winogrand (1928-1984) documented urban life with a raw and opinionated lens. His slanted horizon lines and multi-planed pictures give a haphazard feeling as if the viewer were walking down the street, observing people as they walked past. It is an interesting show for people who like to watch people.
See it at Portland Museum of Art, Seven Congress Square, through December 5.