MARCY BRAFMAN: FACE VALUE / August 26–September 25, 2005

“Face Value” by Marcy Brafman is a new series of drawings that operate halfway between the artist’s fascination with cultural images and the role of the artist as a recorder and commentator on the idiosyncrasies of everyday life. For the last year, Brafman has been making portraits of the characters that inhabit her circle of friends and acquaintances, friendly strangers and professional contacts, and the artist has in each case recorded her impressions of them. In an off-hand, spontaneous, and anonymous manner, Brafman has taken on the role of the court painter, depicting the social fabric of her world through the medium of the quick sketch. What these images reveal is the distance between character and the emotion it inspires in the thick of the moment. Many such moments build up the context of our social interaction, as well as our perspective on idiosyncratic mannerism and body language, and make a worthy adventure out of artifice.