Gina 2021

Curator: Lanise Howard created this engaging portrait titled “Gina” in 2021 using acrylic paint. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: The subject's gaze is immediately arresting; it's quite direct, almost confrontational, yet the muted palette lends an overall tranquil, dreamlike quality. The contrasting sharp, geometrical background also creates an interesting tension. Curator: The background is interesting as Howard uses a field of colored squares, which reminded me a lot of Gerhard Richter´s "Color Charts" disrupting any straightforward reading of the sitter. The materials used are significant. Acrylic, compared to oil, allows for a quicker, perhaps more accessible process. This resonates with notions of contemporary art and challenging established traditions of portraiture and how we use painting nowadays. Editor: That’s an insightful point regarding the medium. Looking at her hair, the soft blending stands out, contrasting nicely with the geometrical rigidity surrounding her, however I question if the softness reduces the intended impact. Formally, it adheres to portrait conventions, but I'm trying to see what it suggests to the viewer through the artist's technique and how she's captured Gina's character. Curator: Well, the background gives an interesting context about consumption too. Those color squares remember the vast availability of industrial paints we now have; Howard chooses this color chart to set up a stage where we could talk about labor and also a very "contemporary" subject. What do you think it tells us? Editor: Indeed. By juxtaposing the tradition of figurative art with what we might deem decorative, even mundane in contemporary terms, there seems to be a deliberate play with artistic value itself. It urges you to consider if her craft diminishes Gina, the subject’s presence, or elevates it? Curator: Exactly. In many ways it echoes the experience of contemporary life, constantly negotiated in the face of mass production. Considering the setting that she uses is so interesting to appreciate her portrait. Editor: Agreed. It is precisely the subtle yet purposeful formal decisions that really makes you keep thinking of it days after experiencing the work!