Or so it might appear, anyway.
Last weekend I read this piece, by Monica White, at The Atlasphere. I've never heard of Jack Vettriano, and I find his name to be suspiciously un-Scotsmanlike. But I was intrigued by her words about him:
The Portland Gallery was displaying a high ratio of his newer work in the recent exhibition, and the impact was interesting for me as a female because I got to look through the eyes of (and step into the desires of) an unashamedly sexual man. Vettriano is a singularly talented narrative painter; it’s very easy to be transported to his settings, and even easier to become involved in his scenarios.
His talent, I think, is to bring movement to an inherently still medium. The same canvas and paint that could show the calm, frozen time of a still-life is indeed gripped by a violent current -- movement about to happen, movement suppressed, freedom of movement captured lightheartedly and perfectly. It's almost painful to watch these characters, half expecting them to continue at any moment the action in which they are suspended.
She includes thumbnails of a number of examples of Vettriano's work, and I now would like to see more.
Did I mention The Atlasphere adopting Vettriano? Joshua Zader wrote about Vettriano months ago for The Ayn Rand Meta-Blog, an Atlasphere project.
Posted by Craig Ceely at September 23, 2004 11:00 PM