Portraits catch the eye,
raise gender questions
[Chicago Final Edition]Chicago Tribune - Chicago, Ill.
Author: Jenn Q Goddu, Special to the Tribune
Date: September 2, 2005
(Copyright 2005 by the Chicago Tribune)
ART: PREVIEW Even with David Bowie singing the theme song, the 1982 film Cat People is not one many people remember with enthusiasm. But local artist Alicia Hayes points to the film as a key influence on her painting over the past two decades.Her series, A Portrait of Many Woman,was first inspired by the movie's leonine star Nastassja Kinski. Hayes' early work depicted women with cat-eye pupils, symbolizing, she says, her own mixed feelings of cautious territoriality and independence.The portraits she's currently exhibiting at Gallery 500 are striking at 30-inches by 40-inches or larger, using bold colors and pop-art style to highlight the often-breathtaking beauty of her subjects: women Hayes has seen in magazines, fashion photographs or her own imagination.It's often still the eyes of the women that bring the viewer into Hayes' work, says gallery owner Kyle Bennett. People are attracted, he said, to the way the women in the paintings appear to be looking at the viewer. His gallery focuses mostly on blown glass, and the vibrant palate of Hayes' paintings are an eye-catching complement to the glass art. They're just awesome,Bennett said. It's something that you see when you walk by and you say 'Oh my god, I have to go and take a look at this. "It's a response that Hayes revels in. Having a viewer cast an appreciative eye over the woman depicted in a painting such as Sunday Blue is a central part of the artist's celebration of femininity. I've had people ask me, 'Why don't you paint men?' she said. "I don't find the male form as beautiful as the female form from an artistic standpoint. And I want to depict a women's feelings, not a man's, from a very feminine perspective."The women in her paintings are typically pop-art gorgeous, with bright eyes and ripe lips. Some are nude or semi-nude. Hayes says she doesn't shy away from depicting women's sexuality. "I think that too many men in the world tried to repress it, for way too long, because there's so much power in it." But there's a difference between celebrating and exploiting the female form, she's quick to point out. "I'm like every other woman out there who looks at magazine covers and feels I'm not thin enough; I'm still too fat." she says. "People just misjudge us all the time." Painting women who are stereotypically beautiful may not seem to be much help in combating the pressures on women to conform to a seemingly unattainable ideal of what's pretty. But Hayes also tries to give her art another side by incorporating original poetry passages in the work. A viewer looking closely will see a few lines of verse on a woman's arm or along the line of her flowing hair. In the full-size "Sunday Blue" the viewer can make out the words, "Sunday" reminds me of a prayer yesterday that tomorrow will always continue to bring the light of sun." The embedded text makes the comment that celebrating the outer beauty of women is not enough. By putting her own words into the work, Hayes is able to give each woman in her series an inner voice. "It's not like just, 'Wow, she's pretty,' but there's something more to it." she said. "It's about something inner, what's the inner voice of all of us?" Alicia Hayes
When: Through Sept. 25
Where: Gallery 500 Wells, 500 N. Wells St.
312-222-1880 or www.gallery500wells.com
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onthetown_tribune.com
[Illustration]PHOTO; Caption: PHOTO: The women in local artist Alicia Hayes'
pop-art paintings are larger than life and stereotypically gorgeous.Reproduced
with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is
prohibited without permission.
Abstract (Document Summary)It's often still the eyes of the women that bring the viewer into [Alicia Hayes]' work, says gallery owner Kyle Bennett. People are attracted, he said, to the way the women in the paintings appear to be looking at the viewer. His gallery focuses mostly on blown glass, and the vibrant palate of Hayes' paintings are an eye-catching complement to the glass art.Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
