Flea Market Vendor 1990

Duane Hanson made "Flea Market Vendor," probably in the late twentieth century, using polyester resin and fiberglass. It's hyperreal, like a person just plopped down in the gallery. Hanson's got this incredible eye for detail, right? The way the skin is rendered, the slightly faded colors of her clothes, the stacks of books and paintings. It's like he's saying, "Hey, look at this person, this moment." He’s interested in the everyday, the overlooked. I'm drawn to the way Hanson captures the textures and surfaces. You can almost feel the weight of the books, the softness of her outfit, the slightly worn edges of the paintings. All these little details add up to something bigger, a portrait of a time, a place, a culture. It's like a photograph, but in three dimensions. Think about the way the old masters painted portraits, and then think about Hanson. It's a very different approach, but they're both trying to capture something essential about the human experience.