"Straight on Till Morning" at Pavel Zoubok - Chelsea Arts & Culture - Seth Apter

Pavel Zoubok Gallery invites you to Straight on Till Morning, an exhibition of recent on paper paintings by Barbara Sandler, whose anonymous images of men combine aspects of montage and portraiture to explore the iconography of masculinity.  

“Do you know who I am?,” asks a handsome young man in a suit - crisp white jacket, hat and tie, gazing out from what appears to be a weathered postcard from another time and place. Geometric lines gently trace the surface, merging into constellations – quietly mapping the stars. “I am your guardian angel,” replies another smartly dressed man, sitting on a chair with legs crossed, his polished shoes gleaming in the foreground. “I’m in pursuit of the unknown,” replies another, wearing a service man’s uniform and a solemn expression. And so the conversations continue...

Straight on Till Morning continues Barbara Sandler’s painterly investigation into the expressive power of figuration and portraiture, which began in the mid-1970s with large-scale portrait heads of Native Americans and a subsequent series based on the Baron de Meyer’s photographs of Nijinsky. Since then, her work has continued to explore themes of identity and fragmentation, figuration and abstraction, montage and painting. The exhibition’s title playfully references the journey to Neverland and the Lost Boys of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Sandler’s anonymous male subjects – based on collages made from found 19th and early 20th century photographs and printed ephemera – reflect a continued interest in the iconography of masculinity. These painted montages are replete with visual symbols such as stars, words and numbers, recalling eccentric forebears such as Joseph Cornell, John Graham, George Platt Lynes and Pavel Tchelitchew. 

Striaght on Till Morning runs through February 4.

Pavel Zoubok Gallery is located at 533 West 23rd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. 212-675-7490. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm.