Sylvia Shap Gets to Know Her ‘Family’

Like certain journalists, some portrait artists strive for objectivity. Conversely, editorial writers impose their own sensibilities on a subject. Sylvia Shap prefers the first approach.

“I work collaboratively with my subjects to determine their essence,” the painter says. “I let them show me who they are, what they wear or how they would pose, for instance. Rather than trying to make a picture about me, I try to make a picture about them.”

Shap, one of three artists featured in concurrent solo exhibitions Tuesday through July 10 at the Municipal Art Gallery, bases her portraits on a photograph of each subject.

“But I’m not a Photo-Realist,” she says, explaining that unlike Photo-Realism, her work “goes below the layers. I use the photo only as a memory jogger,” and, in line with the collaborative technique, “I allow the subjects to choose the photograph which they feel best represents them.”

Local art world personalities--artists, collectors, curators--have dominated Shap’s oeuvre . But “Some Members of My Family” at the Municipal Art Gallery reaches beyond that enclave. (The 30 mixed-media paintings were all done since 1977.)

“There’s a small sampling from a series of women I encountered in the art world, about five pieces, plus Ed Ruscha’s portrait,” Shap says. “But the rest of the images combine portraits of people I met on a recent trip to the Orient as well as clients and others.”

Thematically, Shap says each of her portraits has “a universal standing, aside from being a very personal image of a subject.”

This idea of universality is evident in the works from her recent trip.

“I did a painting of a woman in India whose name I never knew,” Shap said. “It’s called ‘Woman in a Chartreuse Sari.’ Her face is so full of human spirit and emotion. I was just awe-struck by her image and her beauty.”

Another work depicts a woman she saw at an airport in Narita, Japan, and felt impelled to introduce herself to, though she doesn’t speak Japanese. “It’s hard to verbalize what struck me about her. It was just some kind of strong connection, maybe deja vu or a sisterly thing, I don’t know.”

Sharing exhibit space with Shap at the Municipal Art Gallery are Wayne Holwick and Channa Horwitz.

ARTISTS HELPING ARTISTS: The Pollock-Krasner Foundation is looking for a few good artists.

Established in 1984 from the estate of the late Abstract Expressionist Lee Krasner, widow of Jackson Pollock, the foundation awards grants to individual visual artists based on artistic merit and need.

Worth about $24 million, it has been inundated with applications from the start and has given out about $2.1 million to 285 artists worldwide for professional and personal expenses ranging from studio rent to hospital bills for AIDS patients.

Despite the myriad requests for grants, foundation officers want more artists--”those with recognizable, not necessarily recognized artistic merit”--to know about the fund.

“Our biggest problem is the quality of submissions, not finding people in need,” said Charles C. Bergman, foundation vice president. “Very frankly, the quality of the art (represented by slides sent with applications) we receive is often very poor . . . sometimes very bad.”

Professional visual artists of any age working in paint, sculpture and graphic or mixed media may apply for Pollock-Krasner grants. Video, photographic and performance artists are not funded. “Need” does not necessarily mean emergency or disaster--grants may be used to pay for paintbrushes or baby-sitters--whatever helps artists do their work.

For an application, write the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Inc., P. O. Box 4957, New York, N. Y. 10185.

ALL AROUND TOWN: Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and the Patrick Media Group are sponsoring a project to reproduce and enlarge artists’ works for display on outdoor billboards throughout the city.

The 14x48-foot “ArtBulletins” will be displayed for a minimum of four months starting this fall. They will be moved to several sites for increased exposure.

Art for the billboards will be chosen by a panel of three Los Angeles artists. Professional artists in Los Angeles County may apply through June 30 by sending a resume, 10 slides of past works and their “ArtBulletin” proposals.

Those selected will receive a $750 honorarium.

For an application, write ArtBulletin, Patrick Media Group, 1550 West Washington Blvd., Los Angeles 90007. Information: (213) 731-5111.