Patricia Heal - 1999

The Robin Rice Gallery announces a solo exhibition of photography by Patricia Heal. The opening reception will be held on Wednesday March 4, 2001, from 5:30 to 8:30. The show will run through April 28, 2001.

In her most recent collection of photographs, Heal disguises her contemporary characters in a fiction of stillness. Theatrical setups, Edwardian costumes, complete with historical props are reminiscent of a bygone era in which photographs were posed. In this body of work she embraces the sitting - the formality of posing. Drawing her subjects from a pool of chance encounters, they speak of the artist before themselves. These faceless images are compelling, generating a tense undercurrent. The stillness is figurative, the movement is emotional.

The immediacy usually expected from photography has been removed by the colors she has imposed on her images. The surreal colors created by Heals unique through the camera, generational application, leaves us with a flatness, which recalls paintings more than photographs. Appropriately, these large scale photographs are framed to the edge in quite deep, mahogany shadow boxes.

The invitational image “Lee”, the model with dyed platinum hair yet clothed in Edwardian attire is an homage to surrealism and its role in modern fashion.

In another, “The Sitting” a series of four images depicting a Victorian period, consists of woman in green and red bustle dresses posed with a penny-farthing against a large painted canvas.

Heal studied English and Drama in England. She then moved to the United States and took up photography. In 1986 she moved to New York City as a commercial and fine art photographer. She has been a recipient of The Communication Arts Photography award twice, second place in the Nikon / Photo District News self promotion award, published in Graphis Photography Annual in 1993 and won second place in a Fuji Film promotion award.

She has shown in two group shows at The Robin Rice Gallery. This is second solo show.