Pasithea 

Adrian Gottlieb made this painting, “Pasithea”, with oil paints. It's a medium with a long and loaded history. Before mass manufacturing, artists were deeply involved with their materials, grinding pigments by hand, and understanding the subtle behavior of oils. Now, you can buy tubes off the shelf, so the focus shifts. The contemporary artist’s skill now lies in how they deploy these highly refined, easily accessible materials. Gottlieb handles paint in a classical manner, building up layers of translucent color to model form. The effect here is polished, even hyperreal, but there is also a certain theatricality. The objects in the background are not rendered with the same degree of conviction as the figure. They are props, and she is the main event. Gottlieb clearly has a mastery of his medium, but it's important to remember that this skill is built on a foundation of industrial production and commercial availability. This makes you wonder: Is this really so different from craft after all?