Gallery visit - Natalie Frank at Mitchell Innes and Nash

I liked the visual plentitude in Natalie Frank's first solo exhibition at Mitchell Innes and Nash. She lets you be a voyeur into a kind of people whose personalities and identities are not defined completely yet seem familiar to us in her exploration of power, domination, subjugation and class differences inherent in our society. The paintings are large scale, a treat to the eyes and striking in their detail to attention. Some of the paintings had me thinking of the kind of drama set on canvas of the heroes and whores of the Weimar times... 'The Stammerer' (see below) is one of my favorites - features so much psychological tension - the man in the background is actually choking another bare chested woman...

I have some pictures posted here - just my perspective - for a better one, go see the paintings at the gallery.

Note: Natalie Frank was born in Austin, Texas in 1980. She earned an M.F.A. in visual arts at Columbia University's School of the Arts in 2006 and holds a B.A. in studio art from Yale University.

Natalie Frank, 'Portrait', Oil on canvas, 18" X 16", 2007

Natalie Frank, 'Robert', Oil on canvas, 20" X 18", 2007

Detail of above

Natalie Frank, 'Portrait', Oil on canvas, 56" X 34", 2007

Detail of above

Natalie Frank, 'The Stammerer', Oil on canvas, 56" X 80", 2007

Natalie Frank, 'Ryan and Jeremy', Oil on canvas, 56" X 72", 2007