MacArthur, Eileen

• Home:
  Arthur, Ontario
• Title:
  Kelly
• Media:
  Oil on canvas / huile sur toile
• Dimensions:
  91.5 x 61 cm
• Website:
  www.eileenmacarthur.com

In my recent work I incorporate references to seminal works from art history. These references are often overt, and sometimes subtle. In Kelly, The tilt of the head and open pose is an allusion to the female bar attendant in Edouard Manet’s The Bar at the Folies-Bergeres. In Manet’s painting there are two portraits of the same female subject. The first looks out of the painting at the viewer, and the second is her reflection in a mirror. The dual portrait allows the subject to appear at the same time both engaged and disinterested. In Kelly I endeavoured to represent this duality in a single subject. Her expression is one of being lost in thought as she looks out of the painting and past the viewer.  It is not clear what she is feeling and it is difficult to discern if she is about to smile or frown. Kelly is at the end of her shift at a pub and she appears tired and drained. She has an expression on her face that is not satisfied or resigned, not engaged or dismissive, not interested or bored. Kelly’s expression seems to accept the banal and expect the unremarkable.

EDUCATION:

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:



GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
[three_fourthXX/5 Invitational Biennial, ]Fisch Haus, Wichita, Kansas[/three_fourth]


AWARDS:



EMPLOYMENT:



OTHER INFORMATION: