Man's Suit 1935 - 1942

Nancy Crimi made this watercolour of a man's suit, we don’t know when, but it has the appearance of a fashion plate. The plum colour of the suit coat really pops; the artist has worked in layers, varying the pressure of the brush to create a velvety sheen. The material aspect of this piece that really grabs me is how the suit is both there and not there. Crimi has rendered the front of the suit in incredible detail, down to the buttons and frills of the collar, while the back is barely a sketch, a ghost image. It reminds me of how we present ourselves versus how we feel on the inside. This embrace of ambiguity and multiple interpretations makes me think of the work of Red Grooms, who similarly combines careful detail with a playful sense of cartoonishness. Art is an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time and Crimi and Groom’s works talk to each other across the decades.