The Reality Show features five artists who are working in the tradition of representational painting. Recognizing an image or a place is often our point of entry into a work of art. The familiarity of the thing depicted and its emotional weight draws us to look more carefully. Rene Lynch, Mia Brownell, Mary Henderson, Jayne Holsinger and Andrea Kantrowitz are established painters who depict things we recognize although their intention is not always to make us comfortable. The places, people and objects in the works are part of our lives. The viewer is invited to imagine the story, the psychological or historical narrative of the painting. The artist uses the power of what already has visual meaning to create new meanings. The examination of the real lets us explore what is abstract.
