February
13, 2010 The Portrait Project at The Supper Club
Allegra LaViola Gallery is pleased to present a series of Portrait Projects concurrent with the exhibition “Portrait of a Lady.”
For each night of this weekly series a different artist has been invited to create portraits during an evening dinner event, altering the usual gallery experience.
All guests will receive their personalized portrait, one of which the artist will select to be displayed on a gallery wall for the duration of the exhibition.
Each evening thus concludes with the mutual transformation of the chosen portrait and the exhibition—the portrait being amplified by its position among other works of art, and the exhibition through the changes resulting from literal expansion by the new portrait.
The artists have been invited to interpret their idea of portraiture by using as starting points their own distinct practices and the art-historical implications of the genre.
For Alison Blickle this means placing her sitters in a colorful tropical setting and painting an idealized likeness.
Jeremy Willis will employ his expert use of ink to make charged, gestural renderings in a punk-pop mode.
Creating a portrait studio in the gallery's lower level, Suko Presseau and Virginia Inés Vergara invite sitters to explore the relationship between reflection and projection, play and pose, photographer and subject.