 Decoy 1, 2006 colored pencil on paper, 30 x 22 Julia Randall Decoys and Lures Jeff Bailey Gallery is pleased to present Julia Randall, "Decoys and Lures". In a series of colored pencil drawings, Randall has created strange flowers and plants hybridized with human and animal traits. Abundantly detailed and saturated with color, each flower and plant initially appears to be an incredibly precise botanical or naturalia drawing. Yet they reveal themselves to be bizarre fetish objects, incorporating human elements like skin, hair and tongues. Inspired by cloning, genetically modified food and plants, plastic surgery and other forms of unnatural intervention, these humanoid hybrids are depicted as decoys. They entice other species from their normal ecosystem, ultimately ensnaring birds, butterflies and other insects. The Decoys hint at the perils of human meddling with the natural world. In "Decoy #4", raw meat becomes part of a parrot tulip's petals. Drawn fingerprints ostensibly allude to someone reaching out and touching the drawing, leaving their marks behind. Other trompe l'oeil effects, like paper punctures, thrust the decoys into our space, and implicate the viewer. Beautiful and grotesque, the various "Decoys" explore what is natural or synthetic, and what is real or surreal. The "Lures" are drawings of mouths and tongues in rapid motion, suggesting speech and beckoning the viewer. This is Julia Randall's second solo exhibition with the gallery. Her work was most recently on view in the group exhibition "Twice Drawn" at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Exhibition reviews have appeared in Flash Art, The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald. Her work has been featured in "Beautiful Decay". She lives and works in Connecticut and New York. Exhibition: February 14 - March 17, 2007 Gallery hours: Tues-Sat 11 am - 6 pm Jeff Bailey Gallery 511 West 25th Street, No. 207 USA-New York, NY 10001 Telephone +1 212 989 0156 Fax +1 212 989.0214 Email jeff@baileygallery.com www.baileygallery.com |
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