FINE ART: James Garner
THE paintings by Francine Scialom Greenblatt at the South=20 African Association of Arts in Cape Town serve as a=20 reminder that explorations of sex and sexuality need not be=20 subsumed by the self-conscious, ironic appropriation of=20 media stereotypes that has become so fashionable among=20 artists desperate to place themselves at the “cutting edge”=20 of avant-garde art.
From=20neo-expressionistic renderings of kissing couples to=20 smoothly modelled images of handcuffs that recall German=20 artist Gerhard Richter’s earlier work, Greenblatt relies on=20 the imaginative skills of the viewer, rather than overt=20 quotes from popular culture, to draw viewers into a playful=20 dialogue about sexual norms and taboos.
Mounted as an installation, large paintings are hung in a=20 continuous row round the exhibition space. The viewer=20 quickly begins to form connections between the variety of=20 images on offer.
From=20Sumo wrestlers to scenes of zestful coupling,=20 Greenblatt’s almost diaristic collection of images allows=20 viewers to form their own associations in a way that, while=20 affirming the physicality of sex, also affirms the power of=20 the imagination.
The exhibition runs until May 27