"Lives on the Line" at The Workshop Gallery

Three days only at The Workshop Gallery in Vineyard Haven: Must-see multimedia art show by painters Basia Jaworska and Billy Hoff. Ms. Jaworska's portrait series "Lives on the Line: Activist, Dissident, or Agitator?" features contemporary global activists engaged in controversial and, for some, life-threatening efforts to better the planet and the lives of its inhabitants. These bold paintings, reminiscent of poster art, shine a light on ordinary people doing extraordinary things. In her vivid portrayal of each of these socially, politically, or environmentally active individuals, Ms. Jaworska manages to convey that inexplicable force that compels one person to act where others do not. Her portraits beg the question: What makes someone a hero? Courage, conviction, refusal to stand by or stand down?

Ms. Jaworska's work is fueled by her own passionate concern for the current social and political climate of our world. "In these dire times," she reflects, " we needn't feel so hopeless. We can look to others who have dared to speak out, and some even putting their lives on the line to inspire and activate change." The work is accompanied by a compelling soundtrack of spoken word and music, created in collaboration with Detroit sound artists Vincent Patricola and Blair French.

In contrast to the stark reality of "Lives on the Line," Mr. Hoff's expressionistic paintings transport the viewer into other-world vistas that hover on the borders of waking life and imagination, memory and dream. Ambiguous characters are cast in land (or sea) scapes suggestive of days gone by. Drawn to and inspired by classic illustrators such as N.C. Wyeth, Mr. Hoff has developed what he calls "content and form picture-making," a technique that uses bold, visceral colors and a distinct physicality of strokes and markings. His paintings form a poignant, allegorical narrative of life, evoking feelings of longing, of wanting to grasp something just out of reach -- love, perhaps, or innocence.