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Article 6465
Reviews

From:
Category: Art
Date: 12 April 2005

Review

Eric Fischl Mary Boone Gallery Chelsea, NYC Gently erotic, Fischl evokes soft-toned bedroom scenes, in increments of before, during and after the act. Unfortunately, other than consisting of lovely golden tones and carefully patterned light, the stories are empty. The figurative work is sometimes nice, and often hazy. But what are they thinking? What are they feeling? Are they real, or just mannequins? The figures seem to be frozen in time, not reacting, not moving, their faces blank. They are posed in positions, and awkwardly. The scenes are set up as though through a window, capturing moments of nothingness, yet evoking an uncomfortable sense of voyeurism in the viewer. But voyeurs usually see movement, expression, a few moments of human lives, yes? The light is captured in interesting folds, but again, even that falls flat on the bodies, as though literally painted on the models' bodies. The bed is contained in what appears to be a sheer material, resembling a bubble, complete with matching stripes of white, resembling the light on the bodies. It's hazy through there, so much that it appears to be only a prop, not a natural accompaniment to the couple's bed. The size of the paintings is nice, not huge or too small for the composition. But, again, there isn't a lot of detail or expression to fit in, anyway. One painting can fit nicely in an average home, or several in a large home; maybe this helps the sales, which have sold out the show, in huge prices. Hopefully for the buyers, the Fischl's name will be a successful investment, by itself.

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