I'm so proud of her! I have to share! This is the review she got in the Atlanta Journal Constitution yesterday.
Tiny lines build poetic pictures Catherine Fox - Staff Sunday, June 11, 2006
REVIEW
"Jennifer Celio: Next Exit"
Through July 8. Noon-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Romo Gallery. 309 Peters St., Atlanta. $2,500-$6,700. 404-222-9955. www.romogallery.com
Verdict: Terrific.
Jennifer Celio's exquisite drawings focus on cityscapes that the rest of us prefer to tune out. Through the magic of her draftsmanship and careful compositions, the California artist transmutes the numbing ugliness of the strip-mall convenience store or the graffitied expressway wall into poetry.
"Porno Music" is among my favorites in her Southern debut, at Romo Gallery. It depicts a broken chair against a background of brambles and vines. Surrounding the chair is what might be the detritus of a homeless man's hangout ---an empty water bottle, a crumpled issue of Hustler magazine, clothing hanging on a branch.
Using hundreds of tiny, delicate marks, Celio limns the scene in loving detail. The image, which floats in the center of square white wood panel, fades away at the edges like a Victorian photograph.
Occasionally she introduces subtle color --- like the fruit in the abandoned grocery cart in "Lakewood Produce." The repeated horizontals and verticals in this frieze-like composition give grace and dignity to what in reality is a derelict lot on a sign-cluttered street corner ---the more blighted version of the empty street in Edward Hopper's "Early Sunday Morning."
The fragmentary character of her images and the way she varies their placement and the shape of the panel also contribute to the success of her drawings. The exception proves the rule: The air of quiet mystery disappears in "Adios Barry T," in which the image of bikers on an incline fills the panel. Just as Cinderella's coach turned back into a pumpkin, the piece becomes an illustration.
Fortunately, it's the only work in that vein. The rest are a poignant delight.
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Going cold turkey isn't nearly as delicious as it sounds - Homer Simpson.