GABRIELA GONZALEZ DELLOSSO
	FOREWORD Like a tango, Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso's work is an intricate dance of delicate detail and grand ideas. Infused with the flavor of her Latin heritage, her paintings are at once harmonious and unexpected, lyrical and jolting. She is more a fantasy weaver than a storyteller. Often appearing as the central character in her compositions is the artist's mother. Through her daughter's imagination and conjuring, she is transformed, taking on the persona of a 16th century Spanish queen or costumed as a floppy-shoed circus clown. Whatever the setting Dellosso's figures are intriguing, but as your eye glides across the surface of her work suddenly you discover obscured objects tucked away in the shadows. You realize at once that these are things of a different time and of another place. As your reality is shifted, you are spun in a new direction compelling you to continue the exploration of her unique vision and creativity. A delicate and petite woman, Dellosso often paints on a grand scale for the sheer impact of standing before a near life-size figure, and to indulge her love of executing each meticulous element in her composition. Her artistic journey has been unconventional. Her credits already include several museum exhibitions, yet this marks her first one-woman debut in a gallery. An unusual order of accomplishments, but there is simply nothing ordinary about this artist or her work. In fact, she seemed destined to mark this milestone in her career at the Eleanor Ettinger Gallery. A great admirer of Norman Rockwell, whom the gallery had the honor of representing and publishing until his death in 1978, hers will be the first one-woman exhibition here since that of Alice Neel more than twenty years ago. There is a common thread that runs between her and these other two very diverse artists. They were and for her still are creating art that reflects a basic truth about the strengths and fragility of being human. Rockwell spoke to us about what was familiar, Neel exposed us to what was deeply psychological and Dellosso focuses on today's very relevant concern of continuity and change. She doesn't paint a narrative but rather a stimulus for thought. What in life should be kept, what discarded? The finest ruffle of a lace cuff or an empty paper coffee cup both seem worth immortalizing especially when they appear together, somehow as if they belonged. In the juxtaposition of these references, we are led to question the iconic imagery of contemporary life and that of historic import. Though most definitely a classic realist, Dellosso employs surrealistic elements through which she links the past to the present and the present to the future. As part of the continuing timeline, the artist includes a series of self-portraits. These are not only explorations into her own psyche but tributes to woman painters she admires, both famous as Frida Kahlo and those who remain obscure. It is her intent by transforming their self-portraits into her own image to bring focus to these women, some of whom like Judith Leyster might only be discovered as footnotes in art history. As their talents have inspired her so she wishes to inspire us. To remind us where we have been and to inform us where we are going. Her talent like her vision is singular, formidable and challenging. She is a woman of her time.
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