Lockwood at Soren Christensen
by Dale Betancourt
New Orleans Art Review
New Orleans, LA - May/June 2009
Lory Lockwood, in a recent exhibition, had synthesized images of glossy automobiles to a level of approximate abstraction. Her control of composition was little short of masterful. She sustains that mastery now, in new works that aim directly at American culture – especially the glamour-charged culture that originated with the popular icons of the 1950s.
These paintings, stylistically linked to photo-realism, seem strikingly appropriate today. Our old obsession with artificial and unattainable glamour has clearly returned full force.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondespictures Marilyn Monroe posters and baubles inside a display case – a self-framing image-within-image. The technique is flawless, the posters look properly slick, and Lockwood renders the gleam and shimmer of glass as faithfully as always. More important, however, is the over-all tone of this show. It tells us about our shallow side. Or is it, perhaps, sobering and vivid evidence that we need this facet of our culture as a shield from too much truth?
View artwork from Marilyn & The Dreamgirls
