ESTHER ERLICH – EMANCIPATED 2005 2005 From the boardroom to the boudoir, Erlich’s latest series of large scale oil paintings are organised around the thematics of control. More often than not, the battle is waged across the surface of the canvas itself in the competing terrain of figure and ground. Erlich’s loosely drafted figures are outlined in fragile charcoal, the edges of their bodies folded into and up against their thick, painterly surrounds. Their faces, however, are crafted with explicit detail; a graphic reminder of the unspoken personalities behind every representation. In “Boardroom (Executive)”, 2005, the satin sheen of the peroxide blonde’s suit merges seamlessly with the matte finish of her corporate environs. But in the strength of the gaze, and in the detail of the hands, Erlich acknowledges that material surrounds are not reliable signifiers for identity. In this sense, Erlich mischievously “frees” her figures from the contexts that threaten to envelop them. Likewise in “Emancipated”, the eponymous piece of the exhibition. Playfully draped across her bed, this nude flies in the face of stereotypical representations of so-called “career women”. The outline of her body is drawn and redrawn over the blazing reds of the bedroom, a “barely there” indication of form that owes much to Brett Whiteley’s mode of figuration. Just as the rich palette and sensuous lines work to seduce the viewer, the subject’s calm, collected stare blocks objectification, coolly appraising the viewer in a manner reminiscent of Manet’s infamously impudent “Olympia” (1863). Moreover, like Olympia, Erlich’s women appear to be acting out (or even over-acting) their roles. Similar to the media’s representation of celebrity, identity slides into caricature. Erlich, however, never lets the subject go. Objects may become props in their hands and every garment a costume, but Erlich’s figures are always in on the joke. The long-legged house-keeper of “Self Employed” poses cheekily with her broom whilst the post graduate is endowed with a mandatory pot of beer, a guffawing grin and the scrap of a Foster’s logo just visible in the background. Erlich has described the works as an update of “retro stereotypes” of women: “good little home makers but with a 21st century attitude.” Attitude indeed: Erlich’s delight in subverting established conceptions of class and gender relations is palpable. It is in this insistence upon the individuality of her subjects that Erlich’s passion for portraiture is most keenly betrayed. Erlich’s reputation as a portrait artist is well established (she won the Doug Moran portrait prize in 1998, the Archibald’s People’s Choice award in 2002 and has been a finalist in the Archibald and Portia Geech on countless occasions). Her most recent canvases are not, however, intended as likenesses of particular individuals. Rather, they consistently paint over tired clichés of “type” with a gritty layer of integrity. Bruce James once admired Erlich’s “powerful” work for its “capacity to repel, then beguile”, and its “fearless disregard for consequences” (Sydney Morning Herald, Nov 6, 1999). In the context of this exhibition, which brings together a selection of some of her most infamous portraits in tandem with her most recent series, James’ sentiments find new resonance. Erlich’s commentary on the posturing of identity has never been more astute. by Amelia Douglas

Title	Date	Type	Size (kb)
Self-Employed	2005	Picture	103,685