Carol Adelman: House Of Mirth

Several larger oil paintings join smaller works on paper for Carol Adelman’s solo debut in Bellingham. Educated at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Washington (MFA, 1997), Adelman is a New Yorker with a wry skepticism about the precepts and esteem of the Old Masters. Twisted and tangled variants of Renaissance portraits, Gothic altarpieces, and Baroque drawings and prints challenge the viewer to recognize the original and suspend expectations of reverence, duly supplanted by comedy and aggression.