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The big news in the district this month is the July 18 opening of a new art space in the Canal Square group of galleries. The Georgetown Art Guild, which is located in the Canal Square Galleries 1054 complex, will open on July 18 with an exhibition of new works by artist Isil Osisik.
Just across the courtyard from the Art Guild, the hot show and impressive Georgetown debut is by Gresham Sykes, whose show at eklektikos gallery, titled "Men, Women, and Beasts" delivers a wonderful selection of brilliant paintings which are stylistically related to the art forms of popular illustrative art such as cartoons, comics and caricatures. These pieces also borrow freely from popular culture, taking generously from that vast store of visual material which we accumulate over the years, not from museums but from ads, comic books, movie posters, magazine illustrations, newspaper advertisements, and the like.
Sykes, who graduated from Princeton in 1950, and studied in diverse places such as San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and the Art Institute of Chicago has a long dual career in art as well as impressive academic credentials as a professor of sociology.
He comments that "throughout my career, I've been able to combine my commitment to painting with my academic interests," and impressive interests that they are, including five major books on crime and society; a recent textbook, now in its second edition; a book on prisons considered a classic in the field of criminology; many articles in professional journals; and articles on crime for popular publications.
However, nine years ago Sykes retired as Professor Emeritus from the University of Virginia and since then he has been able to devote myself full time to his painting.
The pieces are deceptively easy to look at, and hide a skill and technique which only many hours of practice and dedication can deliver. I especially liked "Mermaid Singing," which is almost irreverent in the way the siren is presented, followed by two bubbly fish. I also quite liked his "Nude" and his depiction of the "Leda and the Swan" myth, which has always been one of my favorites.
It is in these pieces, particularly in the treatment of the swan in the latter, that we can truly judge the skill of his brush as well as admire the creativity of his selections. This is not a fearful, demure Leda, but a serene, quiet scene, which hasn't yet exploded with the sexual deliverance of the myth. The same passiveness is shown in his "Europa and the Bull," where the maiden sits triumphantly atop a very cultured bull.
This show hangs until July 16,1997 and eklektikos can be reached at (202) 342-1809 or visist them via the internet at http://www.eklektikos.com