LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.- I-5 Gallery at the Brewery presents  "Revealing", a show of three artists- distinct explorations of the figure. Each artist re-describes the figure within different media and artistic traditions. Lori Bauman uses video to transform the simple act of a man walking into an expression of timeless isolation. As the cloaked figure moves through the ruins of ancient Venice, the work draws us into its mystery. In other work, she captures stills from her videos to further infuse the mundane with social and religious meaning. Tom Guiton paints human-scale figures in a collage-like manner uniting naturalistic and symbolic elements in the same image. The juxtaposition of content requires a re-framing of context. Laura Merage also uses context to envision the human. Her photographs become objects as she places figurative elements in boxes arranged as sculpture.  

The figure offers familiarity as well as comfort and easy identification for the viewer. Re-described, it invites the familiar to be experienced anew. The large attendance at recent shows of works by Lucien Freud and Modigliani (among others) indicates that the human figure continues to be a compelling subject for audiences. It has always been a useful subject for serious artists. Almost any meaning may be written into the figure through style, context, and composition. In a period of uncertainty, with no dominant critical paradigm, the figure provides these contemporary artists an enduring and highly productive subject for meaningful exploration.