“Recent Work by Whitfield Lovell and Visions From the South,” Gambit Weekly
Whitfield Lovell collects old photographs of African-Americans, often decked out in their best suits and posed formally before the camera. Displaying fine draftsmanship, he recreates their images on wooden planks and then incorporates antique symbolic objects in his eloquent sculptural assemblages. Deuce is emblematic: A black couple from a century ago posed with a Victorian chair. Extending from the front of the sepia wooden planks is a tabletop covered in antique lace and vintage silverware. The vintage objects and eerily photographic images contribute to a resonant sense of “presence” that allows us entry into a time and place different from our own, yet so familiar that we can readily relate.
