Travis Louie’ “Views from a Netherworld” is an ethereal, haunting exhibition of monochromatic paintings inspired by 19th Century photography, German expressionist films and noir. “When I make these paintings, I am creating a world. I grew up watching a lot of film noir … I’m fascinated by the ideas of haunting things,” Louie relates. Using a slight accentuation of color around the eyes of many of his subjects, Louie’ paintings are supernaturally-tinged myths of his own making. The subjects have the quality of photographs found in an attic, imbued with a strange and spiritual dimension. There is a story inside a story in each of his subjects’ beautifully detailed depictions.
The link between Louie and Sally Deng’s “Women Work” is their development of a storytelling mythology of their own making. Deng’s beautifully detailed series of drawings and paintings champion the work of women. Unrelated to Louie in terms of style, her small and illustrative figures inhabit their own vibrantly imagined world. The details evoke a folk art feeling, each suggestive of an involved narrative that compels repeat viewing
