Reviewing Three Works of Art

Art Review
The painting “Beck (he/him)” by Eli depicts a queer/trans subject sitting on a bench. The background of the painting is very impressionistic, with foliage and the park behind the subject defined more by color and shade than by edge or boundary. The blurring of borders, however, reflects the blurring of gender in the subject. The subject is somewhat impressionistically portrayed as well—but here there is more focus on edge, more defined boundaries: the limbs and legs and face and features can all be discerned. What is most interesting about “Beck” however is that he is wearing large sunglasses that cover his eyes and create a mysterious effect on the viewer. The eyes are supposed to be the gateways to the soul, and here the viewer is unable to gain access to that soul so must look for meaning in the features of the face, the posture of the body, the lines of the mouth. The mouth itself is dubious: is the subject smiling or grimacing at the viewer? There is a Mona Lisa type of smile going on in “Beck” and it suggests that the subject is seeing something in the viewer and not letting on as to what it is. The posture of the subject, moreover, is ambivalent: one leg is crossed man-style over the other and the foot is dangled downward—but the shoulders of the subject are small and feminine and the cheeks and neck have a feminine appearance to them. The dubious nature of the subject is what gives the art work its overall mystique.
River Rock, Cathedral by Jay Sousa is a photograph that looks like a painting. Usually it is the painting that confuses the viewer and makes him wonder whether it is a photograph because it is so realistic. Here, Sousa has captured the shimmering impressionistic nature of a reflection of the surrounding rock wall above the river as the surface of the water ripples and causes distortion in the image. Only the line of large, oblong rocks looming slightly out of the water has any stillness to it: the water is full of sky and rock reflections while the actual stones sit like abstract agents in an abstract painting. Yet this is a photograph of nature and one that immediately captures the viewer’s eyes and causes them to be glued to the image. As Sousa himself says, “In my photography I try to show the viewer something unique; something they may not see from the comfort of their vehicle or roadside pull out.” This photograph is certainly unique and shows what there is to see when one gets down into nature and points the lens at the gifts that the natural world has to offer.
“Merced River: Impression #1” by Roger J. Wyan is another photograph that looks like it could be an impressionistic painting. It resembles one of Monet’s paintings of water lilies—the way the focus is on the surface of the water and the reflections seen there while the objects riding the surface of the water contrast with the reflections of the natural world caught in the water’s face. It is a brilliant photograph and it perfectly encapsulates the beauty of impressionism, as the title suggests. What is so astounding is that this photograph echoes so strongly the impressionistic paintings of Monet: it is as though the two were cut from the same cloth. How can photography and painting be so inextricably linked by a similar subject? One would think that photograph would be less impressionistic, more real—but it is an equal match in terms of impressionistic power to those paintings by Monet. The surface reflection is full of blues from the sky, dotted by reds, oranges and yellow from the leaves of the trees, while dark branches and trunks lead down to the ground. Wyan notes that he is inspired by the French impressionists, which explains the similarity a great deal—and I love his ability to capture light and color in the water’s surface—a true artist.

Works Cited
Sousa, Jay. “One River: Two Perspectives. Impressions of the Merced River.” Art
Exhibit.
Wyan, Roger J. “One River: Two Perspectives. Impressions of the Merced River.” Art
Exhibit.