Featured Review: Paul Shank: Paintings and Works on Paper: 1964-2008

Paul Shank: Paintings and Works on Paper: 1964-2008 This St. Louis-based artist's retrospective appears like a survey of key period paintings from a distinct but elusive moment in aesthetic history, one that falls somewhere amid cubism, art deco, pop art and mid-century murals. It's an aesthetic that seems born of a fascination with definitive regional references — local architectural stock, particularly — and their art-historical counterparts. The resulting images of idiosyncratic complexity are best exemplified by Shank's figural works of the early '80s, in which the subject is often dead-center but seated amid piles of broken abstract forms and obscured facets of landscape, all the while staring stoically ahead into bright midday light. Through April 25 at Philip Slein Gallery, 1319 Washington Avenue; 314-621-4634 or www.philipsleingallery.com. Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 

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