Through the Kabalistic concept of Gilgul (im pl), which is the transmigration of souls through time, Fenton adapts Nicolas Poussin’s Rape of the Sabine Women and weaves it through a banal scene at Jones Beach. Fenton creates high drama just under the surface of an ordinary beach scene or lurking myth interacting with absolute reality. This fugue, with its psychological and musical meanings, becomes the focus of this work.
Tag: Through
Sunday Drive through the Hood
Two very different worlds exist and are separated, in this case, by a car door. Fear, distrust, intimidation, alienation, survival of the fittest, and ownership of turf are words which come to mind when one thinks about these co-existing but separate provinces.
Gertrude’s Trunk- My New Hat
Rummaging through an old trunk once owned by Gertrude Hodgeman, a missionary nurse who worked in China, Fenton came across photographs, including one that had the pencil inscription “My New Hat” scrawled on the surface. Knowing that Ms. Hodgeman was long gone and thinking about the inscription, the artist was inspired to create a series of paintings dealing with the energy and vigor of the pictured youth and the fleetingness of that energy, idealism, and life itself.