Angel

Lisa Yuskavage paints exaggerated, self-aware pictures of women—usually in various stages of undress and in suggestive poses—that compel erotic, voyeuristic interaction. Employing imagery derived from pin-up magazines as well as from an exploration of her own conscious and unconscious desires, Yuskavage’s unsettling, indecorous subjects function in opposition to her technically skilled conveyance of light and suggestion of mood through color. While most of her nudes seem ironically trapped in their own sexuality, the poised, monumental, and fully clothed figure in Angel gazes outward with melancholic sincerity. Her stance suggests empowering self-revelation. This almostclassical figure—set in a sublime landscape featuring a still life in the foreground—is based on a model but can be understood as a kind of self-portrait.