The Quiet Life Gallery. 17 S. Main St., Lambertville, NJ 08530. The exhibit runs through Sept. 30th. Hours: Wed.-Sun. 11 am- 5 pm. (609)397-0880. info@quietlifegallery.com
For this exhibition, Lambertville artist Elise Dodeles has continued to focus her attention on photographs found in libraries and archives. Specifically, Elise has used as inspiration an album of 1½ x 2½ inch photos of mostly anonymous San Francisco area fighters taken during the years 1910-1930, which she found in the Rare Books Department of Princeton University.
Elise Dodeles says of her work: For my previous show in Philadelphia I juxtaposed images I had found in photographs and illustrations to create compositions that addressed issues of class, race, gender, and power. However, I wanted to stop forcing content into my work and was searching for imagery strong enough to allow me to concentrate on the act of painting itself to provide the content. The beauty of these men's faces, with their lives etched upon them, was the perfect vehicle for me to accomplish my goal of letting my painting technique echo the content that already existed. With these portrait paintings I am determined to continue to express what unites each of us: that is, to highlight and make tangible our human vulnerability when faced with life's sufferings and despair, and occasionally, its triumphs.
