FACE: Figures and Portraits by Gallery Artists

Pékin Fine Arts is pleased to present Face, a group exhibition of

portraits and figures reexamined in painting and photography by four

gallery artists.

Traditionally, figure-as-subject served the powerful, presupposing an

idealized man or woman. Painterly postures were imbued with apparent

moral authority and a false sense of authenticity. Gradually, more

individualistic pursuits evolved. Today, what we call “realism” takes

myriad forms; more likely a stepping off point to a deeper understanding

of historic images, and a reflection of the artist’s point of view.

The ruling tendency in contemporary art is no longer figurative. The

pendulum has swung to abstraction, multi-media, and other postmodern

pursuits. Despite such trends, figurative art stubbornly remains,

resisting obsolescence. For some, figurative art is more complex, can

go deeper, and achieve more. Perhaps within these trend-defying

spaces, individual pursuits will drive portraits and figures into realms,

heretofore unexplored.