September 6, 2007—September 29, 2007 | Reception Thursday, Sept. 6th, 2007

James Harris Gallery is pleased to present Free Mustache Rides, an exhibition of new paintings by Marcelino Gonçalves. Inspired by a collection of Polaroids a friend gave to him, each of the compositions is an intimate snap-shot that vividly captures the cultural particulars of the 1970s. In Gonçalves last exhibition (2005), the artist’s paintings were based on photographs of a summer Boys camp from the 1970s. With this new group of paintings, Gonçalves continues to explore the underlying psychology of masculinity but now nostalgic stereotypes of men and women mingle between quintessentially stylized interiors. A couple in matching red pants tenderly pose; they gaze outward while their pet saluki looks up toward them. The artist has carefully painted objects, flowers, furniture to act as signifiers not only to imbue a sense of past but also to comment on the subject’s relationship. In another, a woman sits poised perfectly with lavender eye-shadow, pert red lips and a sexually charged gaze. Her pose is a counterbalance to the macho gesture of the male figures in the other paintings.