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6/4/2004

Ladies of the Night

Paul Sharpe Contemporary Art, New York

Paintings and Works on Paper by Robert Appleton

New York, NY - Paul Sharpe Contemporary Art (PSCA) announces the opening of a new exhibit entitled Ladies of the Night, featuring new paintings and mixed media works on canvas and on paper by Robert Appleton, a New York-based visual and performance artist. Opening April 7, 6 - 9 PM, thru May 8. A discussion and performance with the artist and celebrity Flawless Sabrina will be held on April 21 at 8 PM.

Ladies of the Night: Paintings and Works on Paper by Robert Appleton Appleton, who graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art with a degree in Interrelated Media, is a visual and performance artist. Ladies of the Night draws inspiration from the shroud that falls as twilight begins, permitting one to transform oneself, reinventing personas, and engaging in solitude and quietude. It deals with issues of decadence, loss of control, and nonconformity.

The paintings and works on paper depict "women" who have an ambiguous quality to them: they are solitary figures in the night; perhaps a loner, a person lost in the fog of alcohol, or someone who time seems to have passed by. Regardless of actual gender, Appleton seeks out portrayals of women in this show.
Sociologically, Appleton explores the artifice of womanhood. The roles and expectations that are put upon them and the stress that it creates. The fact that men playing the roles of women can be successful, only brings them to the same feelings of loneliness that can be found in the "caged" woman.

By focusing on those who perform on stage, Appleton seeks to define in his subjects a new personality or thus capturing the portrait of the performance rather than the performer or the individual. The portraits in this show are dream-like interpretations of fictitious personalities, derived from actual performers' characters witnessed or read about by the artist. By using the formal approach of portraiture applied to characters, Appleton strives to accomplish what is largely found in more traditional portraiture: understanding, beauty, and strength. What Appleton seeks out in the personalities of his sitters are qualities such as: anger, loneliness, loosing control, glamour, nonconformity, and the decay of suburban entitlement.

It is Appleton's performance experience which both informs his work and allows him to provide extraordinary insight into the world of the demi-monde or demi-rep. He depicts women, performance artists, and drag queens of the past 40 years, using painting techniques, drawn from art historical master painters to contemporary photographers.

Appleton's portraits speak to the Old Masters, Mathias Grunewald and Hans Holbein, and Expressionists, Otto Dix, Christian Schad, Egon Schiele, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The works in this show also speak to more recent artists such as Nan Goldin and Mark Morrisroe. Appleton's paintings are unique in their emotional and insightful capturing of a moment and perhaps a legend.

This exhibit marks Appleton's first solo show at PSCA and in New York City. His work was included in Betrayal/Portrayal in fall 2003 and previously in Art of the Portrait: Fantasy, Fetish, and Celebrity in 2002 at PSCA. His paintings and sculptures of sailors were included in Bodilicious in 2003 at the Temple of Art and Design in Staten Island. His work has been included in shows in New York, California, and Massachusetts. Past exhibitions of Appleton's work have appeared in Gay City News, New York Blade, Staten Island Source, and Time Out NEW YORK.

Appleton, as a performance artist, has collaborated with many prominent contemporary artists, such as Tony Oursler and Mike Kelly in The Poetics Project; Karen Finley in Make Love; and Julie Atlas Muz (who is included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial) and Flawless Sabrina in Ravaged by Romance. He will be seen this summer in Wallace Shawn's new movie with Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick Marie and Bruce.

Flawless Sabrina, who was born Jack Doroshow, is a legend in New York and in downtown scene personalities. She was the first gay person hired in Hollywood to act as a consultant on portraying gays and lesbians in film for televisions and movie houses. She consulted with 20th Century Fox on Planet of the Apes, the female character portrayed therein became an inspiration for her later performance work. Other film projects included Myra Breckenridge, Midnight Cowboy, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Flawless began cross-dressing in performances in Philadelphia in 1958 and hosted the "Inspiration Pageant" that same year, which was a milestone in bringing awareness to cross dressing artists and performers in this country. In 1959 she established the "Ms. Philadelphia Contest", which later led to the "Nationals" - a nationwide event akin to the Miss America pageant. Judges for the Nationals included Judy Garland, Truman Capote, Gloria Swanson, and Andy Warhol. In a performance at New York City's Town Hall in 1967, Flawless became a friend of many prominent artists in the avant-garde. A documentary including her, entitled The Queen, won the Palm D'Or in Cannes in 1968 and it was financed in part by Warhol. Flawless founded the Miss Fire Island pageant in 1967.

Opening April 7, 6 - 9 PM

ADMISSION Free

RSVP 646 613 1252

ON VIEW April 7 thru May 8, 2004
The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday, Noon to 6 PM, and by appointment.

EVENT Discussion and Performance with the Artist Robert Appleton and Diva Flawless Sabrina
April 21 8 PM

ADMISSION Free

RSVP 646 613 1252

paul sharpe contemporary art
PSCA is founded on the premise that the artist comes first and is the raison d'être of the art world. The role of the gallerist is to nurture creative accomplishment and to cultivate the collectors and curators who can sustain artists. The artists represented are those whose work one would wish to collect and to enjoy, while helping to support their careers. PSCA is led by Paul Sharpe, formerly of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The space itself is meant to encourage a dialogue in issues in art today and as such is designed as a salon rather than a white box. The color scheme is blue, camel, and white and it is inspired by a Justin Knowles painting of the mid 1960s. The concept is to create a space where artist and art lovers can congregate and appreciate fine contemporary art.

artists represented
Robert Appleton Carlos Bandres Amaya Bozal Alfredo Cannata Anton Christian Craig Coleman Arturo Cuenca Linda Cummings Fairfax Dorn Gloria Garfinkel Laura Harrison Lenore RS Lim Katy Martin Robinson Murray Martin Penrose John Costa Rosis Alex Serna Dylan Blue Stone Tattfoo Tan Lee Whittier
work available Amos Badertscher Judi Harvest Jeff Kowatch Michelle Mackey Robin Richmond

WHERE Paul Sharpe Contemporary Art
86 Walker Street, Floor Six, New York, NY 10013
(Walker is one block below Canal, between Broadway & Lafayette)

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