BE THEREGlamour, Glory and the Good Old DaysPresented by Paul Morris Gallery July 13, 2007- August 3, 2007Reception: July 13, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmAlika Cooper, Robert Crumb, Rachel Kaye, Manuela Paz, Lindsey Muscato, Philippe WeisbeckerPaul Morris Gallery is pleased to present, “Glamour Glory and the Good Old Days”, a group show featuring six artists. The show examines ideas of beauty, and self-reflection. Some of the work in this exhibition alludes to the luxury of solitude. Perceptions of self, related to although not limited by, media, relationships and the details in between. Delicately painted portraits of celebrated females rendered with gouache on earthtoned print making paper are the subjects of Alika Cooper’s most recent work. Cooper blurs the mythic qualities of her female stars with her opaque renderings of a handful of celebrities, classic and contemporary. Cooper diffuses the aura associated with celebrity by flattening and abstracting the subject’s features. Her subjects eventually appear as more of a memory then a headline.Manuela Paz uses a suggestive and feminine language to present photographs of a female protagonist gesturing within the frame of a mirror's reflection. The viewer is invited to be voyeur to a scenario of psychologically charged dioramas, doorways to intimate moments of ambiguous narratives. Inspired by Paz’s own psychoanalytical introspection, the photographs reflect fragments of personal experience. Lindsey Muscato, renders small meticulous graphite images, a segment of information is divulged while a bleak back round leaves the image floating in a vast space. A disheveled bed or a family snap shot with no flesh, becomes occupied space, the synopsis is open to interpretation. The clothing represents the suggestion of a figure and refers to a memory. Fabrics, patterns and style are predominant and hold a sentimental value. By way of self reflection, R. Crumb has an unforgiving view of humanity. His cynicism is softened by nostalgia for a romanticized ‘good old days’. This longing for a fantasized past comes though in many of the works involving musical themes. For the most part, Crumb tackles his own humanity. He dissects his own need to be loved, his obsessions with sex and music and pursuing perfection in a very imperfect environment. When asked, when are you most happy? He says, “When I'm fulfilling my sex fantasies, when I listen to music that makes me ecstatic. I won't go into details, but my old '78 records give me musical ecstasy.” With his precise lines, Philippe Weisbecker renders each of his subjects with the meticulous line of an architect. Each subject is flattened almost to a blueprint format of a three dimensional object. Yet Weisbecker does not seek to represent his subjects through an austere Bauhaus filter, instead he pursues the opposite effect. The household ephemera in his works appear the product of an earnest amateur rather than a crisp and seamless professional. Rachel Kaye translates fashion magazines into a personal fantasy. Obsessed with the glamour and lavishness of the famous she draws her characters in fictitious settings, surrounded by textiles, ornate furniture, and fashion. The lines are harsh, intentional and at the same time precious. Little girls turn into icons bombarded in the public eye. The figures seem to represent a destruction of innocence and coming of age.
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