Marcel Desir

Beatre, Caracas

1974

His first name sounds like a concerto. Vivacious, its name is reminiscent of an aperitif or a cyclist. The addition of the two evokes the Italianate. Indomitable and unavoidable. Mor...

Work on canvas

The Artists Model French School, late 19th century oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 20 x 17.5 inches provenance: private collection, France condition: very good and sound condition

The place of the painted portrait in the postphotography, postmodern age is ever-changing. In portrait painting, a connection between the artist and the subject is created by the act of building an image stroke by stroke. This connection is unusual (and perhaps longed for) in a time of virtual reality and high-speed, mediated experience. There is much to be explored in the question of who is portrayed and how. Brenda Zlamany is interested in the multifaceted nature of portraiture in the digital age. By combining painting, performance, interactivity, photography, a conceptual frame, and a digital presentation, she seeks to challenge schisms in artistic as well as social understanding. Brenda Zlamany is a painter who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Since 1982 her work has appeared in over a dozen solo exhibitions and many group shows in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Museums that have exhibited her work include the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei; the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution; the National Museum, Gdansk; and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent. Her work has been reviewed in Artforum, Art in America, Flash Art, the New Yorker, the New York Times, and elsewhere and is held in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum; Deutsche Bank; the Museum of Modern Art, Houston; the Neuberger Museum of Art; the Virginia Museum of Fine Art; and the World Bank. She has received portrait commissions from the World Bank, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and other institutions. Zlamany has collaborated with authors and editors of the New York Times Magazine on several commissions, including an image of Marian Anderson...