Transient Inhabitants | Group Exhibition

About

In this group exhibition, artists Leila Hobooty, Martine Poppe, and Rodolfo Villaplana trace, dissect and reinvigorate the human form through their lucid interpretations. The ephemeral portraits are of characters known and unknown, who become vessels for each artist to reveal parts of his or her own identity. Leila Hobooty captures random encounter with strangers on her camera to explore them later. Martine Poppe reincarnates her subjects in new mediums — whether it's through a simple sketch or the morphing of photography and painting. Villaplana on the other hand, commits himself to ‘reality' and what he sees in each model, while investigating new relationships with his models (or himself) as he sees and desires them to be. The strangeness of humans as perceived by others, the traces of identity, of characters rendered anew by foreign eyes, is what has made portraiture an immortally seductive art form; a vehicle of documentation, representation and/or misinterpretation for centuries onward. All three artists are intrigued by the constraints and inverse nature of portraiture. Where Villaplana contrasts classical poses with a contemporary palate, composition, and an agitated yet focused brush, Hobooty methodically inserts bold architectural scenes in the heart of her unknown subjects, while Martine uses her drawings and paintings as a meditative practice, treating it as an object, a practice of manipulation, simplification, and discovery. Her calm palette and confident lines emphasize this meditation. These are the methods and processes that have created this haunting collection. It is perhaps like the human form and ‘being' at its best: uncertain, benevolent, beautiful and pensive. Please join us for the private view reception on July 11, 2013, 6 - 9 p.m