Instructor Vogel
Art100
3/25/2013
Critique of Exhibition “Intimacy” At the beginning I didn’t really understand why Zoe Bray used “Intimacy” as the title of the exhibition, until I appreciated those works again and again, I finally knew what it means: the artist wanted the audience to get to know what’s in her eyes, being her, sharing her inner-most feelings and make a unity of understanding both the artist and the works. The work that resonated with me the most was the oil painting Muse (2003). This is a painting of Zoe Bray’s husband’s (then boyfriend) naked body. The scene is taken in morning in a bedroom. The whole picture is dim, only with a small beam of light casting on the man’s body through the curtain, reminds people of privacy and intimacy. Generally, the tone of the painting is brown and grey indicating an intimate and peaceful atmosphere. The man is lying in the twisted sheets. His legs are relaxed, placing on the bed. He has one of his arms bent under his head, seems to be in deep sleep. It is a small painting (9”*12”), so the content is limited, but the emotion that the artist is trying to conduct is very gripping, the only thing in your eyes in the man’s beautiful body, you concentrate on that, the longer you stare at the body, the more impressive it seems to be. Comparing to other works, the paint layer of this work is especially exquisite, which tells people that the artist’s great devotion of passion in this work. One work that I don’t like is Unia Lauzirika (2010). Even if Zoe Bray is a naturalist still I think she should paint one at least be faithful to the reality. The man in this painting is wearing a white shirt. However, the edge of the shirt isn’t there so it makes the man as if he is wearing a polo-shirt! Besides, the portraying of the body part is much too neglected, the white color gives me a feeling that the man is actually clothed in white clay. I’ve seen the photo version of the man, and honestly speaking,