Humankind’s fascination with the representation of its own likeness dates back to the evolution of the species itself. From early charcoal and wood stick-figure representations etched onto cave walls by our earliest ancestors, to today’s surrealistic representations via cyberspace interpretations, capturing and defining the essence of the human-animal, alongside our four-legged competitors, provides us not only with a notion of what distinguishes mankind from our animal predecessors and co-inhabitants but how Man survived and achieved. Clearly, representation of the human figure serves as a means for better understanding of being Human, a primary preoccupation of our species ever since evolution/creation.

Interest in our History and the representation of our humanity has been of primary interest to Carl Hammer Gallery from the very beginning of its existence and is primary in the shaping of artist selection and gallery programming. Representation and interpretation of the human figure, both two and three-dimensional, has prominently shaped this gallery’s focus in the selection of subject matter and of artists shown. It has remained at the “heart” of the programming at Carl Hammer Gallery for the past forty years. Here, self-taught and “schooled” artists alike share an in-kind instinct for examining humanity’s past and present within a context of where and who we are in place, in meaning to ourselves, and to others around us. As in other past gallery venues, the art, and artists in Go Figure! enrich our understanding of self, expanding the framework of how we each uniquely view ourselves and our surrounding world. Through these original and insightful portrayals, we celebrate the diversity of our Humanity and the “one-ness” of our collective individuality as well.  

Oil painting by Mary Lou Zelazny, Seeing Is Believing.  

For additional information - Contact:  Carl Hammer / carl@carlhammergallery.com