Sheila Metzner
Her Sumptuous Vibe At Staley-Wise
Some of the strongest metaphors for describing something sexy stem from music: Something “strikes a chord” or resonates. When you climax (thanks to the rhythm of the night) you could say you hit the high note. A harmonized palette in art or photography makes the work sing, and with its exquisitely tuned hues, Sheila Metzner’s photography is like mood music for the eyes.
Sheila Metzner: From Life is currently showing at the Staley-Wise Gallery in New York through January 20, 2018. The Brooklyn-bred photographer’s roots run deep in some of New York’s most respected institutions, including Vogue Magazine and the Pratt Institute. Her eye for fashion and portraiture captures the elegance and sensuality of the human form, and pairs those attributes with the romance of objects including flowers and marble busts.
Her black and white work indulges in high contrast and modern shapes, as shown in “1988.”
The sweaty honesty of a knot of bed linens leaps from the frame in post-coital bliss in “Jill in Our Bedroom,” where a dainty, white mask makes no apologies for what just happened.
Several pieces capture the decadence and indulgence of 1980s-era design, yet they appear as timeless as the Chrysler Building shown alongside it.
Metzner’s work elevates real life into something more opulent and sumptuous than meets the eye, and that curve is both timely and relatable. In her personal life, she became the first female art director for Doyle Dane Bernbach, an advertising agency in the city, and raised five children while carving out a place for herself in the pages of Vogue. Her work is aspirational and proud; the opulence of her colors and composition vibrate from the surface of each photograph.
Who doesn’t love a good vibration?
