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Lisa ZwerlingLisa Zwerling has exhibited regularly at First Street Gallery since 1976, at other galleries in the U.S., and internationally in England, Italy, and the Netherlands. In the spring of 2000, the Frye Art Museum in Seattle did an exhibition of the artist's paintings from the 90’s and published a catalogue with an essay by Robert Rosenblum. She has received three Pollock-Krasner Foundation grants and a Gottlieb. Zwerling paints figures and animals in imaginary landscapes. Each painting feels like a narrative, but the viewer does not need to know what is going on; rather, the picture creates a feeling. Landscape itself becomes a metaphor of the human condition. While most of the landscapes are painted from imagination informed by observation, the figures and animals are painted from life. In 2005 Zwerling used images of war as potent narrative elements. She was haunted by the visuals of Iraq. In a poetic fiction she combined the wolves she had painted for several years with Apache helicopters. As she painted her reaction to the war, she found that her symbolic metaphor was indeed a reality. She learned that in Alaska helicopters are used in aerial gunning of wolves. Though Apache helicopters are not used, the image is close enough to conflate war and ruthless extermination of animals. After working with wolves as a primary image for several years, Lisa Zwerling has returned to the human figure. Her large painting The Fountain of Youth reflects her interest in age and aging. Lucas Cranach’s Fountain of Youth in Berlin was the inspiration; however, in her version, Zwerling uses models, young and old, of both sexes. Cranach has the men carrying only old women to the Fountain. In Cranach’s world the men need no improvement, but old women definitely need rejuvenation. In Zwerling’s painting, both sexes take the plunge. The Fountain of Youth is dedicated to the memory of the five Robinson brothers: the artist’s father David and her four uncles Samuel, Julius, Irving, and Ephraim. In all, Lisa Zwerling always tries to make a memorable image. To see more images go to
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