Jan

17

Life In Black And White.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

January 17, 2008 |

The exhibit of artwork by Jeanette Martone at the Sarratt Art Galley on the Vanderbilt Universitysharedtoys.jpg campus is a beautiful testament to the “common linkage found in our humanity” which, as she says in her artist’s statement, “inspires the foundation of” her work. Simple black and white drawings of people, mostly from the Dominican Republic where she has worked, they remind me of those commercials for various charity organizations to help third-world children. Unlike the commercials, however, the stillness of Martone’s subjects gives the viewer a chance to see them not just as shadows, as ciphers who stand for the horrors of poverty, but as real people. Most of her subjects are children, and most of them stare directly out of the pictures at us. This doesn’t cause discomfort, however; even though the hard expressions of some of them suggest that these children have seen more hardship than any children should, they also give them depth of character. There is no simple didacticism in these portraits. Martone’s drawings are done from photographs, which is part of what gives them their trompe l’oeil quality. By giving them the time and attention necessary to reinterpret them as drawings, she has in fact made them more real, as well as emphasized their value as people.

Martone also works in color, as pictures from trips sponsored by the New York Botanical Garden show.

Jeanette Martone’s works will be on exhibit at the Sarratt Gallery on the Vanderbilt University campus until February 6th, 2008.


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