Now on view, Mab Graves’ exhibition “Spectrum” at Auguste Clown Gallery manifests her inspirations with adventurous new themes and characters. The most prominent is the retro doll character with Big Eyes, Blythe, reinvented in Graves’ world as a goddess and a ray-gun shooting explorer with a carefree spunk. Her storybook animal sidekicks are right out of Aesop’s Fables like The Tortoise and the Hare, and other tales with important life lessons. If Graves’ art has its own lesson, it centers around the concept of liberation; freeing ourselves to dare to do what we dream. She also expresses a reverence for the female spirit, as in her painting of “The Three Graces” inspired by Renaissance art. Originating in classic Greek mythology, the graces are deities of such things as charm, beauty, and creativity. They embody the sensibilities most cherished by artists of that period, and a personification of Graves herself. This new series of works translates her ideas into a ‘spectrum’ of paintings, illustration and miniature sculpture. “Spectrum” is now on view at Auguste Clown through May 3rd.



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