Elaine Erickson started a gallery in 1994 and throughout those years has shown a fantastic array of contemporary art. This June marks the gallery’s closing and as a final exhibition, “Fame: Paintings by Estelle Holleran” is an especially unique show.
It is the debut exhibition for Holleran and features primarily small paintings of entertainment celebrities. As homage, there is of course one piece featuring Andy Warhol, but if you have ever wanted a painting of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy from The Cramps, this may be your chance. Stylistically Holleran travels in the wake of pop art, seeming to enjoy the candy-colored effects of bright backgrounds and the playful changeability of skin in blue or pink shades. Her portrait of John Waters casts the filmmaker in green, with popping eyes and a toothy smile. Things get rather interesting with Chet Baker, painted up in swashes of blue. White highlights on his closed eyes create a coolly funereal pall.
Notable exceptions to this dominant style occur in a few naturalistic portraits. A diminutive painting of Little Richard is perhaps based on a promotional photograph, but carries a spark of energy in the attentive gaze and lay of light. The actor Zac Efron is painted in a very friendly manner, as though the source is a school photograph, something far from Hollywood glamour and style.
Holleran follows in a long tradition of artists venerating celebrities through the painted image. The aforementioned Warhol is like a godfather in that respect—no one can get away from him. But other contemporary artists brushing out their fascination with fame, such as Elizabeth Peyton, seem to adopt their iconic figures and the act of painting is like an imagining of closeness, manifesting the reality of the famous figure. Rather than a sense of perfection, Holleran’s painterly and unpretentious approach brings them down to earth.
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As this is the first gallery exhibition of Holleran’s work, there is something hopeful about the spirit of the installation. And yet, as it is the last at the Elaine Erickson gallery, there is already a sense of nostalgia.
Through June 23 at Elaine Erickson Gallery in the Marshall Building, 207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 120.
