by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
A reason to go to the Atomic Cantina, aside from drinking, is to check out Tara Zalewsky's series of oil paintings called "Thursday Night Portraits."
"Thursday nights is when they do the swing dancing at the Atomic Cantina," Zalewsky said. "They've got these incredible costumes and a variety of personalities. Some I knew well, some I didn't know at all."
Zalewsky got her master's in painting
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at UNM.
She got a friend to photograph full-body portraits of the people at the bar, most of them swing dancers. She painted from the photographs and finished the series in
two months.
"As a painter, you get the impression that everything's been done, so it's hard to come up with something unique or different, and sometimes you think you can't come up with something different," Zalewsky said. "So, the goal for an artist is to create something that's genuine or meaningful. These portraits were meaningful because the people were real. They go to their day jobs, and at night they have this artistic side. It's also this unique Albuquerque subculture."
Her style is quick and with full, rich brushstrokes. She also does a good job at capturing the lights and shadows of nighttime, which is hard to do unless one has a solid grasp
on color.
"In all my paintings, I go for dramatic lighting, like Caravaggio - a light coming from one direction," she said. "I use one single light source and a layering of dark colors in order to create depth and drama. It's kind of characteristic of all my paintings."
She learned to loosen her style during plein air painting trips.
"I started out doing a lot of landscapes on site, so that probably helped develop this quick, painterly style," Zalewsky said. "When you're outside, you've got to do it on site without too much hesitation and going-over, so that transferred over to the portraits."
She said one of her best pieces is of a couple, Luke and Raven, also the title of the painting. It shows how much information can be conveyed through minimum brushstrokes.
"My favorite part is the hands," she said. "It's very loose and gestural. Her hand is resting in his. It's constructed out of only five brushstrokes, but it conveys, from a distance, this light touch and connection, and it's pretty rough if you look at
it close."
She said the risk of hanging paintings in a bar is part of the fun.
"I wanted them to be displayed where the people who came could see their own portraits," Zalewsky said, "with the full risk, the smoke risks to it, and hopefully nobody will be drawing mustaches on the people. Eventually, it might be fun to display in a more traditional gallery setting."
Some people were weirded out seeing their picture on the wall, she said.
"There was a pre-opening on Thursday night, which was when the people I painted came, so I saw the unofficial reaction to the portraits," she said. "They were pretty excited, pretty pleased. Some were even a little upset in a way. It's hard to see yourself on the wall, but some were ecstatic to see themselves. For the actual opening, some teachers of mine came. Both nights were great."
"Thursday Night Portraits"
Atomic Cantina
315 Gold Avenue S.W.
242-2200
