Vignettes and Mutations by Eric White at GRIMM Gallery Review
Stella Kowalsky
Vignettes & Mutations by Eric White at GRIMM Gallery is fragmentary, intimate, and introspective. White’s paintings in this exhibition seem to represent a sense of obscured memory. The image of a woman seated at a table, cropped so that her face is partially hidden, positions the viewer as both participant and outsider. We grow more and more confused and enthralled with this woman in the scene she dominated. Similarly, the car interior shows an unreadable billboard against a sunset, through a perspective that is rarely depicted in painting.
This exhibition pulls me in so much as a photographer because of its realism. They look so much like photographs but I don’t think a camera could replicate them, it feels like only something the direct eye can see. It makes you step back and really analyze what you are looking at, and why you were granted access to it. It feels deeply personal without outright depicting events that would inflict or represent deep emotion.
The spacing creates smaller mini galleries rather than one big one. Every painting illustrates a person and things that reflect their personality and lifestyle. There’s a lot of colorful jewelry, paintings within a painting, cameras and cups, ceramic cats, records and cigarettes. It makes you think about how Eric has lived his own life, how he views the people around him and how they’ve impacted his view of the world. Only small details of someone’s true physical identity is shown. The artist becomes both a collector and collected, creating an interesting and very self aware archive.
Your review is already strong! I also like that gallery a lot. For revision: fix the grammar in “this woman in the scene she dominated” to “…this woman who dominates the scene” to avoid past tense in present tense. Clarify when you move to the second painting, if that’s what you intended to write in “Similarly, the car interior shows an unreadable billboard against a sunset…” so readers don’t think it’s part of the first painting. Also, it would be better if you were more specific on what the things are in “…things that reflect their personality,” so it can sound less vague. But overall, your review looks great!
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