Ellen Altfest (b. 1970)

Focusing on the male member, Ellen Altfest's Penis is painting up close and personal. Drawing from the hyper-realism of Chuck Close's portraits, Altfest approaches her intimate subject with detailed obsession. Every wrinkle, vein, and hair is represented with painstaking accuracy, transforming 'a bit of the other' into a terrain of investigative wonder. Through the complexity of her process, Altfest denatures the abject into a field of inspiring contemplation. Each gesture and brushstroke encapsulates a metaphysical consumption, where desire and fixation are conveyed through the sensual study of painting itself.