DottyAttie
Attie derives the imagery for her small paintings mostly from vintage photos: There's the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the glare of a flashbulb, looking old and frail, their faces etched with the ugliness of their pointless lives. Elsewhere you can almost hear the clank when two World War II–era civilians in gas masks attempt to kiss. Attie intersperses each grouping of photo-paintings with repeated phrases that, according to the press release, are meant to ask, "When do social behaviors appear both positive and negative within the same context?" A canvas of a cigar-chomping Weegee hefting his Speed Graphic, the huge flash promising remorseless details of the living and dead alike, reminds one of the ancient superstition that graven images steal a piece of your soul. PPOW, 555 W 25, 212-647-1044. Through April 14.