Sunday, April 8, 2012

Wardell Milan, A Series of Inspiring Women @ Louis B. James


If one were to literally construct gender, I think it’s fair to say it might take the form of Wardell Milan’s powerful women. Charcoal drawings of masculine body builders complete with large hands that might denote bodies of male origin often with one large breast aggressively jutting out with an accusatory nipple. And to make the gender even more open, the faces are only partial rendered with eyes that peek out of a veil of blank paper. Where Milan’s drawings once felt rushed and wispy, they now have a shading and detail that has created a substantialness that flaunt his control of his craft. The strong women are combined in an almost overtly Mapplethorpe reference with wonderfully crafted drawings of flowers based in the same black charcoal of the women with furtive little touches of paint adding a delightful touch of muted color to the proceedings.


Through Apr. 14th

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