Greg Rennick by Regina Haggo 3

Laying it on the line: the prints of Greg Rennick by Regina Haggo                    Starker surroundings draw attention to the actions of the two women in The Incident at the Hat Shop.  There’s a chequered floor, a curtain and a column — and that’s it. Taking centre stage is the milliner on the left helping a customer try on a hat, which she holds just above the woman’s head. Rennick depicts the customer with hands together, as if in prayer. “Will this hat be the one?” she seems to ask. The right hat might enable the customer to live happily ever after, but the story isn’t over yet.          Rennick has arranged his women in a way that looks like a biblical baptism scene. In particular, the woodcut recalls a 15th-century painting of the Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca. The composition is reversed, but the milliner clearly adopts the pose of John the Baptist, with one leg bent and the heel off the ground. The hat replaces John’s bowl of water, while the customer stands with palms facing like Christ. Thus Rennick wickedly links the trivial and the profound.           Another art historical reference enriches The Studio, where a paisley-covered day bed and a paisley wall hanging are the only bits of furniture for the two figures. A woman in a striped dress is drawing, her head bent toward a nude male model on the right.                    Rennick has slyly updated the genre. The more traditional late 19th- and early 20th-century version portrays a clothed male artist and a female nude.  [  >>>>> FORWARD ] [Distillate © HA&L + Regina Haggo  |  {from the Greek bios} - the course of a life. Plus a Portfolio of work by Greg Rennick] [This article is supported by the Goethe-Institut Toronto, acknowledged with thanks by the Editor and Samizdat Press.]