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George Gittins – Manners, A.D., NY

Pictures by Philip Hinge

A.D. presents Manners, a solo exhibition of new works by Brooklyn based George Gittins. Portraits of people and bread alike comprise Gittins’ tableau paintings and drawings. Busts of figures perform and pose at what looks to be a cafe or a bar. Multiple moods of representation occupy each painting, symbolic of a flaneuristic night out and illusory in its own theater. These frozen moments told in humid colors are iconic of the space that exists between painting and real life. The four vertical baguettes are Gittins’ malleable motif becoming fleshy limbs, golden columns or embered wands from painting to painting. These changing steadfast forms unlock the slight psychedelia in his people portraits. Locks of hair form a blobby boot, a shadow on the curve of a face melts into a fleur-de-lis. Characterized by extensive works on paper, Gittins’ paintings are rooted in drawing, where his gestures alter and exaggerate form and representation.

Nick Irzyk