the photographic source continued

Students are usually unfamiliar with the assemblages of Whitfield Lovell. When I flip through the worn catalog (evidence of repeated scrutiny) there is an immediate attraction. His drawings of archival photographs are not the conventional renderings of charcoal on white paper. Instead planks of knotted wood add a sepia tone and a roughened texture to the imagery. Combined with found artifacts, they create a story - personal to the artist - yet historically ambiguous. Intrigued, we naturally fill in the gaps to these visual narratives. 

Whitfield Lovell, Plenty, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found objects, 95 1/2 x 56 in.

Whitfield Lovell,  Epoch, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found objects, 77 1/2 x 55 x 17 1/2 in.

Whitfield Lovell, Tea, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found objects, 108 x 73 x 25 in.

Whitfield Lovell, Cage, 2001, charcoal on wood,
found object, 54 1/2 x 36 1/2 x 23 in.

If you are wondering: who are these posed individuals, so formally attired?, watch this recent TED talk on finding the story inside the painting, given by Tracy Chevalier, the author of "Girl with a Pearl Earring."