After seeing the Daniel Clowes art show last week, I hopped over to the Shoshona Wayne Gallery a few doors down to see an exhibit of Nicole Eisenman's latest work. Eisenman is a lesbian artist whose work combines aspects of drawing and painting.
I was first attracted to Eisenman's work by the influence of comics and cartoons in her drawings and paintings. She often blends these pop elements with drawing styles and subject matter taken from Old Master works. In another nod to sequential art, she sometimes uses a series of small drawn panels to frame and comment upon her central subject matter.
One of the pieces on display was called Achievement Distracted from Ambition by A Clique of Bitchy Sluts. At first sight, the drawing appears to be a traditional allegory, enacted by Greco-Roman human figures within a pastoral setting. Closer scrutiny of the picture reveals a more cartoonish aspect, as well as the contemporary accoutrements of the Bitchy Sluts.
Her pictures are often funny or parodic, but there is also a quality of real joy in drawing that comes across in her work and makes it a pleasure to look at.