Diary

532 Gallery presents Diary, an exhibit of mixed media work by Stefan Szczesny, renowned German painter and sculptor. The pieces on display, called “photo-paintings,” combine two related areas of the artist’s creative endeavor. Since 1985, Szczesny has been making images that integrate photos taken in a variety of settings with figure studies rendered in his characteristically expressive style. The result of the juxtaposition of realistic, photographic imagery with the abstract, painterly records of the artist’s hand, cause the viewer, at first glance, to pause—has Matisse returned to us, reincarnated as a graffiti artist? Far from it! The French artist’s influence as a draftsman is apparent in the work, but Szczesny’s clever extension of the figure into realistic, photographic space is unique—and surprising.