Joe Fig

Stopped by the local Toledo Art Museum today and saw the Small Worlds exhibit. Right when I heard about it I knew I was going to love it. My favorite piece came from an artist named Joe Fig. He creates these wonderfully realistic miniature sculptures of artists and their surroundings. These works become three dimensional portraits.  What I loved most about his work is that you can walk around the piece and experience it from several angles.  His work, Who’s Afraid of Barney?, which is a portrait of Barnett Newman, is a great example of this.  From one side the piece is nothing more than a brick building, from another your peering through a window as Barnett is staring out back at you, and from yet another you see the interior of Barnett's apartment; tidy with a few paintings leaning against the wall. At each angle I was feeling something different about the piece and I think what makes this possible is the sheer quality of Fig's work. The realism allows me to believe that I truly am watching this moment, and I can experience it however I want. It speaks to the true voyeur in all of us.

Who's Afraid of Barney?

Ross Bleckner 2007 (Interior)

Self Portrait (Interior) 2007

Self Portrait (Exterior) 2007