P S YC H E’S M I R ROR
AN EXHIBITION OF NEW DRAWINGS BY JAMES MCNEILL MESPLÉ
PRINTWORKS GALLERY JANUARY 7–FEBRUARY 26, 2005
James McNeill MesplÉ
I
T IS NOT HARD TO IMAGINE the drawings and paintings of James McNeill Mesplé adorning the walls of a first |century Roman villa, even with their humorous quirks and allusions to contemporary culture. The figures he paints are |almost exclusively those of Greek or Roman mythology and their names, if not their stories, are, for the most part,
familiar to most everyone. But Mesplé’s drawings are always a surprise. Marvelously inventive and seamless in their melding of ancient and modern imagery, the genuineness of the worlds he creates is never in doubt. The disparate images in Dune Music (2004), for instance, should not make sense, but in Mesplé’s world they do. In it a pair of reed flutes is played by the slender green fingers of an unseen musician, two classical heads litter the ground and a couple of exotically dressed figures play alongside a pond. In the background are the Indiana Dunes, Chicago’s skyline and a wooden ship sailing on Lake Michigan. It is a curious and improbable idyll from Mesplé’s unconventional imagination that permits myth and magic to enter into the everyday. Most of Mesplé’s works are faithful, if somewhat tweaked versions of legend and myth. Yet some of his work is purely lyrical, as in the hauntingly beautiful Rain Goddess (2004). Here the ethereal face of a woman appears in gray storm clouds, the strands of her hair mingling with streaks of rain falling on an iris flower that has blossomed in a rainbow of colors. Mesplé’s drawing has the delicacy of a Renaissance botanical rendering infused with poetry. His art is nothing short of magical.
Garrett Holg, former Chicago Sun-Times art critic, contributes to ARTnews magazine
Cover: Psyche’s Mirror, 2004. Ink, gouache, charcoal and sanguine on paper; 20˝
X
27H˝
PSYCHE
METAMORPHOSIS
2004
Ink, watercolor, charcoal and sanguine on paper; 10˝
CAPITAL LANDSCAPE
X
7˝
X
X
8H˝
HERA, BACCHUS, EROS
2004
Ink, watercolor, charcoal and chalk on paper; 6H˝
Ink and watercolor on paper; 11˝
2004
9K˝
Ink, gouache, sanguine and chalk on paper; 18˝
2004 X
11H˝
MOONRISE
VENUS GARDEN
2004
Ink, gouache, watercolor, chalk and silver leaf on paper; 29˝
THE OFFERING
21˝
Ink, gouache, watercolor and pastel on paper; 11˝
PASSION FLOWER
2004
Ink, watercolor and chalk on paper; 10G˝
X
2004
X
8˝
X
13H˝
2004
Watercolor, graphite and chalk on paper; 11˝
X
8˝
RAIN GODDESS
Ink, gouache, watercolor and chalk on paper; 10I˝
BLOSSOM
BLUE BACCHUS
2004
X
8G˝
Ink, gouache, watercolor and chalk on paper; 7I˝
HERA WHO?
2003–04
Ink and watercolor on paper; 5˝
X
6˝
2004 X
2004
Ink, gouache and watercolor on paper; 5˝
X
6˝
6H˝
BOREAS
HUNTER
2003
Ink, gouache, watercolor and chalk on paper; 10˝
CHLORIS
X
Ink, watercolor and chalk on paper; 11G˝
CERES
2004
Ink, watercolor and chalk on paper; 11I˝
8˝
X
8I˝
2004 X
8˝
2003
Ink, watercolor and chalk on paper; 8H˝
X
11˝
APOLLO REFLECTS U P O N H Y A C I N T H U S 2004 Ink, gouache, watercolor and chalk on paper; 8G˝
DUNE MUSIC
X
X
10K˝
2004
Ink, gouache, watercolor and chalk on paper; 9L˝
X
13I˝
9I˝
ARIADNE’S DREAM
2004
Ink, watercolor and chalk on paper; 7L˝
APOLLO AND DIANA
2004
Ink, watercolor, colored pencil and chalk on paper; 9H˝
X
11I˝
JANUS REFLECTION
2004
Ink, gouache, watercolor, chalk and silver leaf on paper; 21H˝
X
28I˝
311 WEST SUPERIOR STREET, SUITE 105 CHICAGO, IL 60610-3548 TEL. 312.664.9407 | FAX 312.664.8823 WWW.PRINTWORKSCHICAGO.COM DESIGN: ROBERT SALM ©2005 JAMES MCNEILL MESPLÉ • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED