Ann Gale

December 9, 2019

Ann Gale is an artist and educator widely revered among painters but less recognized commercially. For years she has mentored a new generation of painters at the University of Washington while keeping a rigorous studio practice making highly observed perception-based oil paintings. Her work is "focused on the encounter between the I and the you, on the space between seeing and being seen, which, on the face of it, seems to have little to do with what the art market has defined as ambitious, relevant art," writes John Yau for Hyperallergic. Gale's relevance has more to do with her articulation of human perception, especially as it increasingly juxtaposes with machine perception. She records faithfully and has an utmost concern for accuracy, not unlike a camera, "but it's not accuracy to the model; it's accuracy to my perception, and that's a very different thing," she says.

Self Portrait with threads, Oil on linen-wrapped panel, 2016

Gloria with Pink, Oil on panel, 2017

In Gloria with Pink (2017) we see a close cropped portrait of a woman in grays and browns. The central focal point of the artist, the model's eyes, is felt through the concentric marks swirling around the figure's head. The face and its features are highly scrutinized, whereas, true to human binocular vision, the periphery is blurry. There is visible measuring, which depends on a single precise perspective. "My studio used to look like a dance studio because I marked my feet where I was standing," she says.

Robert with Gray Shirt, Oil on masonite, 2012

Robert Turned Away, Oil on canvas, 2008

Rachel, Oil on canvas, 2007

Rachel (2007) is a painting I've loved for over a decade and remains an original inspiration for the 52 Critical Painters project. It shows a figure in white, seated, feet back as if recoiled and about to stand. There is great tension in the figure as well as an unflinching concern for the space between and around the figure.

Shawna in Lines, Oil on canvas, 2016

Self Portrait with Knots, Oil on linen-wrapped panel, 2017

Self Portrait with Knots (2017) is a more recent piece showing the artist in a red open collared button down in front of a plywood wall. Her eyes express dismay as she scrutinizes herself. It is equally an expression any observational painter makes at a subject, as well as the look on someone's face as it witnesses the horror of its own aging—inevitably a reminder of mortality. The figure is ghostly, arms semi-transparent, an eerie nod to the passage of time.

Self-Portrait with Collar, Oil on masonite, 2015

Images courtesy of the Artist and Dolby Chadwick Gallery.