THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511230099
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Art review
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
IF MILWAUKEE sculptor Marc Sijan has attempted to re-create the inner spirit of his painted, polyester resin figures, he has often fallen short.
The cheap wigs, the doll-like eyeballs, and the ham-handed painting on resin statues cast from real bodies conspire to keep the viewer's eye on the surface.
In lieu of mood or personality, we get goose flesh and wrinkles.
Eleven of Sijan's life-sized forms, dating from 1989 to 1992, populate the main gallery of The Arts Center of the Portsmouth Museums through December.
While Sijan's ultra-realistic art may seem only skin deep, his every-blemish-copied ``skin'' makes for an entertaining field to explore.
The greatest thing about experiencing these figures is that it's OK to stare. And the level of realism is such that a patron may have the genuine impression that he or she is unabashedly gawking at a real person.
A real person, that is, who has been coated with gunky pancake makeup, like a stage actor or a prostitute.
The actor analogy is apt, since Sijan has said that he is always on the lookout for the right sort of faces and figures - ones with character and interest.
So he's a kind of casting agent. He cast in resin the figure of his auto mechanic, Pete, then ``cast'' him as a cowboy in jeans, flannel shirt and chaps, well-worn saddle at his feet.
Sijan turned his studio assistant's father into an English butler like the one Anthony Hopkins played in the film ``Howards End.'' As do several of the figures, the butler looks strangely heavenward, his left arm straight and rigid at his side.
Of course, through the ages artists have been on the lookout for inspiring models. And many, like Sijan, have found their figures close to home, from Whistler's mother to Edward Hopper's wife.
In fact, the most unnerving work in Portsmouth might be of the artist's father, dressed as a security guard. His arms crossed, the figure looks directly and with amusement at the viewer. He appears just a pulse shy of speaking to you.
Sijan wrote that he came up with the guard getup as his own funny way to discourage patrons from touching his work.
If I were Sijan's wife, I would not be thrilled to be cast as a shop-till-you-drop consumer enthusiast. Sijan wrote that he depicted his wife ``at her favorite hobby.'' She wears a jeans skirt and shirt, and carries an empty shopping bag.
Sijan claims he is interested in capturing his subjects' unique qualities. But he has turned his wife into an embarrassing cliche.
In reviewing such work, it would be hard to avoid comparing it to the super-realistic work of sculptor Duane Hanson, whom Sijan has claimed as a friend.
Hanson began fashioning polyester resin figures in the mid-1960s, and he became famous for them after exhibiting a few years later in New York. Hanson was meticulous in crafting his figures in settings, even unto clipping real dog's hair for a dog figure.
Like Sijan's work, Hanson's has been mistaken for real humans.
But Hanson's intent often was social commentary; to that end, he would portray a kind of everyday ugliness.
On the other hand, this is how Sijan described his interest in casting a young niece as a tiny ballerina: ``She was the cutest little thing I'd ever seen in my life.''
Sentiment is great, and Sijan appears to have a lot reserved for his family members, given his urge to immortalize them. The problem is, when you take away the familiarity these figures just aren't interesting enough on their own.
``Marc Sijan: Ultra-Realistic Sculpture'' continues through Dec. 31 at The Arts Center of the Portsmouth Museums, High and Court streets. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $1. Call 393-8543.
At 7 p.m. Monday, Dr. Linda McGreevy, associate professor of art at ODU, will present the 30-minute film, ``Duane Hanson and His Studio.''
Meanwhile, the downstairs gallery features sculpture, furniture and toys by Lynchburg wood carver Michael Creed.
Works on view through Dec. 31 include a desk shaped like a cat, and a bird-mimicking chair. Creed has exhibited at the Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery in Winston-Salem, N.C., and at Nanny Sachs Gallery in St. Louis, Mo. CROSSING LINES
Norfolk artist Bill Wagner's recent imagery has a remarkable delicacy, and exudes a mysterious atmosphere.
His latest work, including drawings, paintings and etchings, is on view at the Hermitage Foundation Museum in Norfolk.
The landscapes are like visual equivalents for indescribable emotional states. And his compositions with figures have the eeriest narrative quality: Imagine if Balthus and Chagall collaborated to create illustrations for Grimm's fairy tales.
No, Chagall - while fanciful enough - would be too sweet.
There is the mildest sinister edge to Wagner's figural work. What are these characters up to? Why do some of them wear masks?
Characters recur, like archetypes from the unconscious realm of dreams. One such character is a two-headed woman - either depicted as two like people back to back, or as a woman with a mask worn on the back of her head.
The work has some measure of metaphysical content. In ``Sensing a Presence,'' Wagner portrays a man in a field - actually, a setting reminiscent of the set in the existential play ``Waiting for Godot.'' The only apparent life around him is a few plants that look like giant seedlings.
Unseen to him, an angel hovers nearby.
He employs the most subtle range of tonal variations, but tends to the light side - let's say, from A to F. His typical surface application is a carefully crafted field of tiny, cross-hatched lines.
The exceptional new etchings on view are evidence that his drawing style is very well suited to printmaking. Wagner was on sabbatical during the 1994-95 school year, and spent much of his time working on etchings in his studio, said Phil Morrison, the museum's director.
Wagner is an associate professor of art at Old Dominion University, where he has taught sculpture, drawing and design since 1972. He exhibits nationwide, most recently at the Laredo (Texas) Center for the Arts, at the University of North Dakota and at Oklahoma State University.
Wagner's work remains on view through Dec. 3 at the Hermitage, 7635 N. Shore Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Free admission. 423-2052. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Will the real Mark Sijan please stand up? The artist, rear,
contemplates his sculpture ``Artist.'' His sculpture is on view in
Portsmouth.
by CNB