Botanical portraits: Patrick Puckett art at Wally Workman Gallery
I went to see the new Patrick Puckett show at Austin’s Wally Workman Gallery today. I’ve admired Puckett’s supersized oil portraits for years, but his new exhibition, Mythos, is his best yet. In my favorite paintings, his female subjects gaze confidently at the viewer with piercing eyes. Flatly rendered, they wear colorful, feminine clothing — pleated Sunday school dresses, flowing caftans, brightly striped shawls — and vines twist, palms rustle, and flowers nod all around them. You can’t help but stare back, trying to read their inscrutable features.
You need a big wall to own a Puckett painting. Demeter, for instance, is 84 x 68”. Can you imagine sharing your home with her, or Persephone? I can.
Do you think Puckett might be a gardener, or at least a lover of gardens? How could he not be?
For those who love Puckett’s paintings but find their prices out of reach (raises hand), limited edition prints of a few of his works are now available.
Or if you just want to return those calm, assured gazes for a few minutes, get to Wally Workman Gallery before July 2nd, when the Mythos exhibition ends.
If you do, pop behind the gallery to see the pretty landscaping at new restaurant Pecan Square Café. Along the sidewalk, a long, concrete-edged lily pond lends a certain coolness to a hot summer’s day.
And waterlilies glow like melon-colored stars.
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Digging Deeper
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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Lovely art. At first glance, especially the image of Persephone, seemed to be a collage: an art form I’m particularly fond of.
I live in a rather small space, so anything of this magnitude isn’t going to work even if I could afford it (which I can’t). I usually end up with a postcard souvenir, to look at and remember the joy I get from such exhibits.
I like taking an exhibition postcard home too as a souvenir. Free and the right size! 🙂
I am glad you shared this colorful exhibition. I really like these paintings. I agree he must love gardens. I would like to have a wall large enough to hang one of these paintings on. It would draw you into the garden to have conversation with one of these ladies and then go out and have a bite of one of these melons.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lisa!