Michael Paglia reviews Ithaca
Her things, 2014, oil on canvas, 11" x 14"
“A smart-looking show on display at Pirate combines pieces by three artists who first met in 2006 at Cornell University, which is why the show is called Ithaca, the name of the upstate New York town where the institution is located. It was organized by one of the artists, Pirate member Monique Crine, who included two former students, Leah Thomason Bromberg and Jillian Piccirilli. Though each is doing something clearly different, they work in compatible styles, so the show is a seamless whole. …
Finally, on the south wall, there’s a nice group of small representational paintings by Bromberg, some of which depict scenes from her hometown in the South; others refer to her Navajo heritage. Though the paintings are based on photos, Bromberg isn’t doing photo-realism, but instead takes a more painterly approach; there’s a clarity to her compositions, but there’s a lot of expressiveness, too. One charming aspect of her section is the wooden box filled with miniature paintings of old cars.”
Ithaca
Monique Crine, Jillian Piccirilli, & Leah Thomason Bromberg
January 31 – February 16, 2014
Pirate: Contemporary Art
3655 Navajo St.
Denver, CO 80211