Art In America June/July 2005


In the 11 oil paintings and eight drawings in this show, titled “Evocative Realism,”
Christopher Gallego transforms banal subjects such as rubber gloves, potatoes,
and careworn interiors into timeless forms suffused with light. He reveals myriad textures
and colors that are easily overlooked, such as the daylight from a window
reflected in an egg yolk in a green glass bowl, or a muslin-covered mannequin
surrounded by dust-filtered light.

Gallego’s backgrounds are often the plain interior of his studio. Except for an
early figure study in pencil on paper (1998), no human being intrudes,
yet each work radiates human presence. We experience it in the paint-smeared
Drop Cloth (2003-04) that protects a white chest from paint-filled brushes.
The texture of the cloth against the painted-wood furniture plays white against white,
rough against smooth, warm against cool—a visual compendium of light created by color.

A graphite drawing (2002) and a painting (2003-04) both depict a weathered metal
laundry tub, its surface rusted and marred from use. Kitchen (1995-96) is a large
charcoal and graphite study on paper of one corner of a room: cookbooks on a shelf,
wine bottles, knife rack, toaster, electrical cords and a window with a fire escape.
In Bag of Plaster (2000), blue, brown and red patches—logos, symbols and text—
are discernible on a white paper bag, with shadows emphasizing the bag’s bulk
and form against a muted background.

In the manner of Giorgio Morandi, Gallego paints objects that become portraits
of a time and place defying categorization. 

- Anne R. Fabbri