Elvis:
The rough scaffolding of Scott Fife’s cardboard construction allows for complexity within the portrait of a notable. As Lear replied to the Earl of Gloucester, who had asked to shake the king’s hand:
Let me wipe it first. It smells of mortality.
And yet, painting is pivotal. Without it, what would Elvis be? Flat for all his volume. The streak of the blues that run down a cheek, the pinks for bloom and bloodshot, the yellow dripping from glue: They make him bloom.
At Platform Gallery through Oct. 10.
I remember a story my former employers told me about going to meet the couturier Valentino – before they were allowed into his office, the three of them had to spray themselves down with a special fragrance required for all visitors. Unrelated, but the quotation made me think of it.