Joe Fig at MassArt

I finally made it to the Joe Fig exhibit "Inside the Painters's Studio" at  Massachusetts College of Art.

I am so glad that I got there before it closed, because these sculptures in miniature are really amazing.

After researching artists work habits,  Joe Fig beautifully 

recreates the studio spaces of 

both emerging and established painters in tiny doll 
size proportions. 

The exhibition mounted the small scale sculptures in

 conjunction with a piece of artwork by each artist 
represented. 

Above is the rendering of the workspace of artist, Joan Snyder, whose painting Oh April can be seen, next to the sculpture, below. Hopefully this photo gives you some idea of the scale & minute detail involved.

Below you find painter, Malcolm Morley (complete with tiny rubber gloves) hard at work in his studio, giving the viewer real insight into his creative process.

My favorite had to be the twin studios of 
Eric Fischl  & April Gornik, 
shown below with Gornik's painting of clouds just beyond. 

In the interior, Fig, spared no detail, from the tiny brushes & tubes of paint to the trash on the floor & the minuscule bottles of evian water. As you peer inside you cannot help but feel like a giant looking into a Lilliputian world.

Yet another smaller example of Eric Fischl's workspace can be seen below with a miniature version of one of his large scale paintings on the easel.

Finally, the viewer is invited into the mind & space of the creator. In the work, entitled Self Portrait, Joe Fig has reproduced his own work environment with the same astonishing attention to detail. When you peek inside his studio, pictured below, you see him at work & even a proportionately smaller version of the very building that you are looking into. One of Fig's paintings can be seen to the right.

Chuck Close was the most well known artist in the exhibit, but if you go to Fig's website you will find many other noted artist's studios represented. Believe me, it is worth a look.

Thanks Molly for the heads up about this artist. I thoroughly enjoyed the show.