Monday, December 7, 2009





Queen Kong, 2009 (detail)



Maria Lezon's mastery of feminine power and vulnerability will be visible in full force when her new show The Lounging Soap Opera opens at Karsh-Masson Gallery on Thursday.

The Spanish-born painter's acrylic works succeed on so many levels. Wonderfully coloured and composed, her paintings feature archetypal females in settings that combine poses from classicism with humorous nods to the realities that face women of today. One result of this thematic juxtaposition: each piece offers something whimsically cinematic or operatic. In the case of the current exhibition, that result is soap operatic.

“The titled was inspired by the reality of my life at the time more than now,” said Lezon of The Lounging Soap Opera. “I also was addicted to a soap opera, La Tormenta ... So art informs life, life informs art sort of thing. My life now is more like Desperate Housewives only in a more Coronation Street style.”

Vivid colours amplified with dramatic use of light and shadow add to the theatricality of Lezon's work.

“I am a colourist,” she explains. “I also like drama, contrast between opposites. I love Baroque painting, where dark and light create drama, mystery ...”

One of Lezon's stated goals for the exhibition is for the viewer to gain “a fresh appreciation for the power of the female form.”

“My approach to femininity is what I am familiar with, my surroundings, my memory, my fantasies, reality around me,” she explained.

Still, the artistry of the paintings lie in the reassembling of that reality.

“I distort stereotypes, use them and mix them,” said Lezon. “There is always a need to classify things, to categorize them. I take advantage of that. I have been on the road for a long time.”

Lezon's paintings will be on display at Karsh-Masson until January 24.





Honeymoon, 2009





The Real Bitch, 2009





Recovery Room, 2009





The Final Rest, 2009