ArtScene
Lisa Adams and Susannah Bettag >
at Lawrence Asher Gallery, Los Angeles
September 2 0 0 7 i s s u e
by Suvan Geer
What is the push-pull of sexual attraction and how do you represent that very complex arena of overwhelming want with its restless underpinnings of need, caution and physical anxiety? The paintings of Susannah Bettag dive neatly into that bubbling hot tub of fantasy and troubling reality.
Her images are sweet, attractive in an almost over the top way. They come in delectable, intense colors and feature lots of cute, cartoony balloon shapes. At least one is decorated with tiny cherry frosted pastries and a large-eyed fawn. But beneath it all is something disconcerting that gets more disturbing as your eye deciphers the compound imagery she's constructed.
"Pretty Ugly" is a two section ground of flatly painted, intense purple and deep orange bisected by a narrow band of variegated gold leaf. It looks like these fields host a virtual party of cascading pale grey confetti ribbons, pale dotted puffs, tiny pink balloons and little blue flowers spotted with bright butterfly wings. But all the fun is internally contradicted by the two ornately scripted words--"Pretty Ugly"--that are emblazoned in the dark orange ground. This text visually asserts itself less quickly than all the bubbles and ribbons, but that visual lag draws our attention to the presence of a blue line drawing. It's a spare outline drawing of a large, erotic female nude. Closer scrutiny reveals that her naked body is not only being veiled but also lightly secured by the party flotsam swirling around her. At that moment the balloons and butterfly wings that decorate her seem suddenly less than benign. The shower transforms into an intense bubbling mire filled with torn-off wings, micro-organisms and encapsulated spores. Turns out itŐs more nightmare than fantasy.
Bettag doesnŐt incorporate titles into all her images. Some like the seductively Hallmark "Are You Thinking of Me?" are found only in the exhibition list. Left unsaid yet wedded to the hidden lusty porn, abetted by her viral sprays of puffy antigens and flowery clusters of bacteria, the titular question is perhaps even more provocative. Bettag's paintings visualize nagging private doubts and fears.
Also showing at Lawrence Asher are the enigmatic, haunting paintings of Lisa Adams...
ArtScene, September 2007
b y Suvan Geer