HARRISON FREEMAN

Both Sides Now

January 31 to February 24, 2013

Ampersand is pleased to present Both Sides Now, a debut solo exhibition of paintings & works on paper by Portland-based artist Harrison Freeman. Brightly colored & grounded in a nostalgic love of zombies & monsters, the Dukes of Hazzard & comic books, Freeman's gallery of garish portraits is  inspired by (& even drawn on) found photographs of people long dead. "It started when I was in Berlin scouring flea markets for old photos," notes Freeman. "I was buying pictures of people I thought looked especially strange or creepy & then tried to magnify that in the drawings I was making." The initial result was a series of 50 snapshot photos, on the backs of which Freeman drew & painted often grotesque interpretations of the front-side figures. Arranged in a grid at the gallery, the installation is interactive in that one is able to flip from front to back in a comparative viewing experience. As an impetus for a larger body of work, these snapshot sketches have been edited & refined in Freeman's new collection of drawings & paintings. Zeroing in on favorite faces, his works on wood panel & yellowed found paper amplify the distinct folds of skin, bulging eyes, toothy smiles & hair gone awry that are singular to the best & worst of found photographic relics.