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  Deborah Brown
Press Release
  Pound Portraits: Shelter Dogs and Their Caregivers

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 20, 6–8 pm
February 20 – March 29, 2003.

Cheryl Pelavin Fine Art is pleased to present artist Deborah Brown in her second solo show at the gallery.

As with her previous exhibition, "Pound Portraits" is a collection of paintings inspired by the artist's activity as a volunteer dog walker at the Humane Society of New York. Her warm regard for the variety of breeds, their look and personalities, is engaging. Some of the paintings extend the earlier work by depicting one, or sometimes two dogs against fields of stronger color. More frequently, the new work pictures both a canine and its caretaker, either a volunteer or a member of the staff. Each image derives from a composite of elements of several photographs taken by the artist. The elimination of anecdotal details of a specific place in favor of a solid background of richly brushed color emphasizes the figures and their intimate interaction.

Regarding this central figural group in pared-down compositions, Susan Boettger has noted in her exhibition catalogue essay for this show,

The subject of these new works is less double portraits than studies of relationships: between temporary masters and potential pets, figural forms and strongly present backgrounds, abstracted presentation and the real emotions conveyed by these arrangements.

The exhibition continues this New York artist's longstanding involvement with depicting the natural work in all its forms: animal, marine, and plant life as well as the sweep of terrain. A respected mid-career artist, Ms. Brown works in both the gallery and public art realms. For a recent commission by Miami-Dade art in Public Places and the Port of Miami for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Terminal #5, she designed twenty-four glass mosaic roundels depicting wildlife of the everglades and Biscayne Bay.