Faces look strange in the art of C.J. Pyle. The Indiana-born artist’s pencil-and-ink grotesques at first challenge a viewer’s facial-recognition capacities before each coiled labyrinth eventually reveals itself to be an odd and sinewy yet human-like visage. Pyle reports that these portraits grew out of his childhood fascinations with both rope knots and the cartoons of Basil Wolverton. Each work is executed in just two colors on a discarded LP sleeve or some other found paper, and every one borders on the repulsive. Always, though, a creature of sympathy emerges, challenging our reaction to ugliness and our bias in favor of the conventionally beautiful. At Carl Hammer Gallery, 740 N. Wells St., Chicago, (312) 266-8512. Prices range from $3,500 to $4,500.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Elevating Earth Day into a national holiday is not radical — it's practical'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
UAW scores historic win in South at VW plantSpeed Read Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have voted to join the United Auto Workers union
-
Today's political cartoons - April 22, 2024Cartoons Monday's cartoons - dystopian laughs, WNBA salaries, and more
