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steve
defrank
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real
little people
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may
2 - 26
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opening
reception:
friday, may 4, 5:30 -7:30 pm
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Clifford•Smith Gallery
is pleased to announce the Boston premier of new work by Steve DeFrank.
There will be a reception for the artist on Friday, May 4th from
5:30 - 7:00 pm.
< fritz,
2001
hand-dyed
LiteBrite pegs on black velvet over lightbox
38 x 28"
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| DeFrank
first gained attention with his portraits of Ken dolls and Mad Magazine's
Alfred E. Neuman made out of hand dyed Lite-Brite pegs. In these earlier
exhibitions DeFrank reveled in his unapologetic adoration of his forbidden
childhood desire for the idealized Ken figure: the handsome, sexy toy intended
as a mate for the equally sexy (and equally asexual) Barbie. These earlier
works stopped short of the heart of the matter: the conspiracy of silence
around adolescent sexuality, especially gay sexuality. |
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^
chunky cirl, 2000 linolium cut print 13 x 19" (paper size)
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| However,
in his last New York exhibition at the Clementine Gallery, DeFrank kicked
the door wide open with a fluorescent rendering of his suburban Connecticut
home positioned next to a funny and shocking portrait of his smiling, naked
parents à la 1972 wearing nothing more than incredibly mod medallions
and ridiculously tiny tan lines. With these two pieces the viewer is instantly
transported to a time when we were alternately fascinated and horrified
to think of our parents as being sexual and indeed our own budding sexuality
was causing us great alarm |
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^
nellie, 2001, hand-dyed LiteBrite pegs on flocked canvas over lightbox
38 x 28"
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| In
this, his first Boston exhibition, DeFrank goes one step further while exhibiting
his skill as a multi-media artist. He presents us with linoleum cut prints,
paintings in casein on paper, portraits made of Lit-Brite pegs, works on
found etchings, and a sculptural, pixelated portrait made of 1,300 Hasbro
Little People toys. Some of the portraits are of re-sexualized Little People
such as the gay leather man, Fritz, or the cowboy, Hank, and some are of
real little people (i.e. his boyfriend Lewis, gallery owner Rob Clifford,
etc.) painted from their first grade school photos. |
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^
lewis, 2001, hand-dyed LiteBrite pegs on blue velvet over lightbox
38" x 28"
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| He's
even taken the etching of George Washington right out of the elementary
school principal's office and pictured him with a vixen-like Martha lounging
in the background. With all of this, DeFrank intends to remind us that our
dominant suburban American culture offers its children silly models of family
life, citizenship, and a host of neutered role models and toys used to train
us about how life is supposed to be. In fact we know that the real world
is quite a different and ultimately more interesting place to be. Steve
DeFrank attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and
received his MFA from the School of the Visual Arts in New York. |
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^
george and martha (detail), 2001 casein on found etching 30" x 22"
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