Monday, February 9, 2009

Mise En Scene Opens @ Paperwork Gallery

Paperwork's new show has branched out from its "works on paper" criteria, to the benefit of the exhibition. Mise En Scene, featuring the work of Audrey Collins Petrich, Lillian Bayley Hoover, and Guillaume Pallat, includes photography, paintings (on canvas!) and Petrich's multi-media installations. Each artist, and Petrich in particular, pays close attention to the design of their setting. Figures become secondary elements, and the interest is in the detail. As always, I prefer photographs in frames, but arranged as if stills from a film, Pallat's images read well and employ a consistent humor. Hoover's large paintings are a feat of technical expertize, although maybe a little rigid. It is really in Petrich's delicate dioramas that the theme is best articulated. Her work is personal and precise, balancing nostalgia and ambiguity.
Audrey Collins Petrich

Lillian Bayley Hoover, above and below


Guillaume Pallat

Detail of Petrich's diorama

Monique and Michael supporting friends

Audrey Collins Petrich

Hans and Gary


Check out the show, on view through March 7, 2009.
Paperwork Gallery
107 E. Preston Street
www.paperworkgallery.com