Despite
the fact they’ve helped immortalize countless historic figures we want to
remember (and many we’d rather forget) and have furnished art history with some
of its most iconic works, one can’t help feeling portrait artists have had a
bit of a rough deal. Today especially it seems the burden of marrying a strong
conceptual core with formal integrity lies more heavily on their shoulders than
elsewhere. Perhaps that’s what makes the Portrait Society Gallery such a breath
of fresh air. Within its two intimate rooms gallery owner Debra Brehmer has
created a casual, domestic setting in which to enjoy the work of artists who
approach the art of portraiture from a broad variety of perspectives. Whether
it’s the energetic carvings and paintings of self-taught artists like Rudy
Rotter, the refined pastel drawings of little known artists like __ or Nicholas
Grider photographs of suited men poised in domestic settings, the Portrait
Society’s exhibits (and Brehmer’s intelligent essays posted on the gallery
website or published in exhibit catalogues) generously embrace what portraiture
is and what it can become.
Open
Fridays and Saturdays, 1 - 4 p.m.
Located
at 207 E. Buffalo Street, Marshall
Building, 5th floor (suite 526).
Tel 414.870.9930
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