OH Projects Boston

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Portobello Road

Good Art Looks Good Anywhere

October 15, 2009-January 15, 2010

Portobello Road is pleased to present Sense and Sensibility, an exhibition of work by 7 women artists. Guest curators Beth Kantrowitz/bk projects and Kathleen O'Hara/OH Projects have responded to Portobello Road's eclectic collection of clothing, jewelry, and home furnishings with a selection of paintings and works on paper that addresses issues of beauty, self-image, and material value.

Jane Maxwell's paintings of sleek, idealized silhouettes on collaged backgrounds of vintage crate labels, and Hollywood movie posters, explore body image and the deconstruction of the feminine ideal.

Although Wendy Edwards references painters such as Manet and Watteau, her gutsy flowers paintings are far from traditional. More visceral than decorative, they redefine the clichéd genre of floral painting.

Kathleen O'Hara's dark, petite, jewel paintings play to our inner Liz Taylor. As they lure us with their kitschy sparkle, they also ask us to question issues of value and ownership.

Nava Lubelski's stitched canvases are reminiscent of down to earth, domestic tasks . Splattered and stained with drips and splotches, the fabric of these paintings is sewn into with an obsessive, sometimes maniacal hand as Lubelski explores the contradictory activities of spoiling and mending.

Roberta Paul's Rose Quilt prints search for the universal in the personal. What was initially begun as a series of prints in honor Paul's late grandmother, Rose, grew into a collective examination of change, loss and the passage of time.

Sarah Petras' small, detailed paintings examine the subtle, social interactions of everyday life. Intrigued by these mundane exchanges, she examines the nuances of their meaning while using color relationships to define the mood of her deceptively complex narratives.

Tina Feingold selects her images of butterflies, dolls, houses,etc. from among the home décor stencils she finds while scouring paint stores, five and ten's. Her paintings and works on paper are layered assemblages of these fragile images, collaged onto heavily painted, textured, surfaces.