![]() ![]() Regan leaves us to decipher her mixed narratives. The words “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work sets you free) are present: words associated with the concentration camp at Auschwitz in World War II. Her inspiration for The Work Ethic came from a medieval woodcut but while Adam and Eve reside in the Garden of Eden in one section, Adam puts up barbed wire and monkeys pick cotton in others. Often Regan embroidered poetry onto her “stitched narratives,” creating one story on top of another. Born in 1934 and raised in Orchard Park, she took inspiration from a variety of sources, including Franz Kafka, German Expressionism, Black Americana, and Bible stories, as well as feminism. This provided a final understanding of portraiture, that of the historic record.Jennifer Regan was a quiltmaker and writer who used both her passions to create what she called “stitched narratives.” All her work is a piece of a greater whole-each work adding onto the story and continuing to speak for the artist and her themes. When curating this exhibition, however, the criteria was that the artist and the subject have died. This means an historic portrait exhibition would not contain centuries old paintings of kings and queens, but rather the people who were a part of our community. Because of this, it spans only a small fraction of the time that artists have been making portraits. The Burchfield Penney Art Center’s collection is focused on the art and artists of Western New York. The subject does not know what the results will be, but the artist is motivated by his memory and desire to memorialize. The painting was made in honor of a friend who has died. Most notable in this category is the painting of Walter Budan, painted by John Mielcarek. ![]() An emotionally loaded situation, where the subject is represented by the feelings the artist has for the person. Lankes of Thundercloud, the subject represents a nationally known figure who had been painted by artists from around the world.įinally, there is the representation of the friend. This can be extended to subjects held in high regard. We have all seen images of the rulers of banks and countries. Possibly the most common portrait comes in the form of the ‘aristocrat’, used in this case to mean anyone in a position of honor. This is similar in the way that people compare themselves within their peer-groups - true of friends, colleagues, and enemies. There is the knowledge that in the end, you will be judged by a peer and judgment will be conflated by how a person feels about the quality of the work. The negotiation of representation, personality, and the general attitude of the subject is complicated. The only thing that equals the self-portrait, is when an artist creates a painting of another artist. It is as if your clothing, expression, and style of hair at any given point in your life remained the same forever. The material is always present, but the unavoidable attention to, and consideration of how one represents themselves in the world is the tantamount. Self-portraiture offers a complex position for the artist, as the subject. A modest selection from the numerous portraits in the Burchfield Penney’s collection, the focus in this exhibition is on four categories self-portraits, paintings of artists, ‘aristocrats’, and friends. Historic Portraits from the Collection is a counter-point to the exhibition, Contemporary Portraiture. ![]()
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