Painterly in approach and at times scholarly in subject matter, J.T. Grant’s latest exhibition, "The Sin Eater and the Anchorite," is an effusive installation well worth repeated viewings. Grant’s oil on canvas works cover a wide swath, literally, from cloudscape renditions ("August Ice") to classical portraits ("Advocates’ Adjunct"). The show’s title has religious/folkloric undertones: a “sin eater” refers to a person who, through ritual, takes on by means of food and drink the sins of a deceased person; an “anchorite” refers to a hermitlike person who retires from society for religious reasons. No matter the relative obscurity of Grant’s influences, they result in visually arresting and complex paintings with universal appeal. The artist’s rich palette is sharp, especially in his biting portrait work. In "Judas Goat" the figure’s face is obscured and juxtaposed with a lustrously illuminated torso. Fitting, because Grant’s work treads the sardonic and the blithe – figuratively and literally.
