Reviews: this category includes articles in which I review other artists’ work.

“Welcome to my hanging.”

There’s a scandal going on in Washington, and, for once, it’s got something to do with art!  When George W Bush unveiled his White House portrait recently, the President’s painted likeness was just the latest in a string of overpriced official portraits. 

The separation of subject and portrait

It’s impossible to divorce a person from her-his face.  More than any other physical feature, a person’s visage comes to represent her-him as well as everything she-he believed in and stood for.  In that way, portraits have a certain extra power.  More than just the expression of the artist, a likeness wields the full force of the subject’s character.

When a Presidential candidate is like a President…

...or, rather, when a whole lot of people hope he is.  Artist Ron English’s Obama-Lincoln mashup is just that latest manifestation of the phenomenon that is the Democratic Presidential nominee.

When a Presidential candidate is like a baby with candy.

Artist Jill Greenberg’s manipulated photos of Presidential candidate John McCain are nothing new: it’s the gesture behind the work that’s so meaningful.

The supreme ultimate art form

I’m not talking about allegorical portraiture, the super genre, again!  This time, I’m referring to Tai Chi Chuan (literally translated to “supreme ultimate fist” or “big energy boxing”), which, as I see it, is more about art than physical fitness. 

Art I like

Portland artist William Park painted this self-portrait in 2003.  I look at his work, along with the work of many other artists, to learn more about what I do. 

What’s wrong with this picture?

While portraits (and images in general) sometimes have more to say about their creators than their models, pictures probably reveal still more about their viewers than about anyone else.

This (for example) is a real person.

A square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not always a square: similarly, a portrait is usually figurative but not all figurative work is portraiture. Just what makes the painting of a person a portrait?

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