Read an excerpt below, and check out more of her work here.
After
Images
The
woman, eyes closed, body tinged an earthen orange-red, gently
caresses the breast of an attendant crow cradled in her hand. It is a
tender image, for she and the (stuffed) bird appear in repose and
adoration, content with one another’s company.
But
for the classic art literate, there is something hauntingly familiar
here, a shadow, a gossamer memory. Only upon reflection does one
realize it is a living homage to Pablo Picasso’s “Woman with a
Crow,” crafted toward the end of the artist’s “Blue Period.”
Titled
“Nina/After Crow,” it is one in a series of portraits by Amy
Arbus — she of a dynasty of photographers of both the odd and the
everyday — that literally bring to life the works of some of the
world’s most beloved painters.
The
traveling exhibit and accompanying book, “After Images,” to be on
display through May 24 at Mitchell•Giddings Fine Arts in
Brattleboro, is both surreal and visceral, a loving tribute but also
a commanding re-interpretation of classic portraiture.
“It
was a very concentrated project,”said Arbus, who lives in New York
City and partners most prominently with the Schoolhouse Gallery in
Provincetown, which is collaborating with the Provincetown Art
Association and Museum to present the exhibition at PAAM this fall.
To
read more, pick up a copy of our latest issue! Click
here to
find a pick-up location near you or Subscribe
Here.
