April 4 - May 2, 2003

Elizabeth Alley's artwork deals with realistic subject matter, but it would be wrong to characterize her style as conventional realism. These paintings are not by any means photo-realist. They are instead imbued with a poignant sense of nostalgia that photography can fail to capture.

Her landscapes, for example, are remarkable for a profound feeling of loneliness. These are usually drawn from urban settings normally associated with public crowds, but in the paintings they always seem desolate. The only indications of a human presence are the large signs proclaiming the establishment's name, and tim worn marquees advertising specials that likely ended long ago.

The figural works, by contrast, present human subjects at such extreme close quarters that the human presence completely dominates the canvas. The figure is often cropped to little more than a fragment of a shoulder, a fleeting hand gesture, a smile. These details exemplify how the most powerful signs of a person's feelings and even one's social identity are to be found in the subtlest of body language.

These cropped perspectives and fragments of scenes engage the viewer by focusing one's attention onto the most expressive and significant details. Elizabeth Alley's ability to evoke a strong emotional reaction to the smallest of details makes these paintings at once subtle and very powerful.

- William C. McKeown

See more work by Elizabeth Alley at http://www.elizabethalley.com/.