By J.D. Goldsmith

"Infamous Mugs"
Montgomery Row, 2nd floor, 6423 Montgomery St, Rhinebeck
March 3 - April 9
Reception with Live Music: Friday, March 3, 6-9 pm
Hours: Mon, Wed, & Fri 9am - 6pm
Tues & Thurs 10am - 8pm
Sat & Sun 10am - 6pm
845.876.0543
www.montgomeryrow.com

The rich and the 'Infamous' have been painted by Thomas Cale for his new exhibit in Rhinbeck.

The suspects stand in the blank room, unmoving. They have been organized, put in place by the authorities. They dare not flinch. Their backs do not move from the wall. One dozen criminals stare out at their audience, frozen and unblinking.

Sir or ma'am, can you identify these suspects?

Likely, yes. Because these faces are among the most know in the country.

Local artist Thomas Cale's newest exhibit chronicles the flight and the fall of stars. But don't expect an astronomy lesson - the starts lining the walls of the Montgomery Row building in Rhinebeck are the sort you'd find in tabloids; their descents hardly supernovas against the night sky.

The portraits, however, don't depict the airbrushed fabrications we've come to call celebrities. Each of Cale's paintings, you see, began as a celebrity mug shot, which the artist translated into oil paint and brushstrokes. Some subjects appear jittery from withdrawal, or drunk, or sleepless and disheveled. Others seem shamefaced to have a police camera in their faces, as though they'd prefer the paparazzi.

It's sort of a commentary on how it seems to interest us, the demise of these stars," said Cale.

The series features haunted, waxen, tired renditions of widely recognized faces, set against bright monochrome backgrounds. The concept seems reminiscent of the old performer's tactic to humanize an audience by picturing them in their underclothes. Here, grizzled skin and sunken flesh pop from each canvas, restoring these larger-than-life personas to the three-dimensional, flawed reality.

These are not your everyday close-ups. The bright hues and vivid textures, however, add new depth to the portraits. Spray-painted numbers a the bottom of some portraits sought to add an "urban, raw energy" to the series, according to the artist. And it worked: each of the paintings is a successful contradiction of the typical celebrity glamour shot.

"It makes them seem very human. Very naturalistic," said Cale of his subjects. "You can see a lot of the emotion in the mug shots. They have a disgruntled shot."

And there's no shortage of material for his chosen theme. Cale notes that whenever he mentions this series, everyone has a suggestion for some outlaw celebrity he should paint next. Thus far, Michael Jackson, Macauley Caulkin, James Brown, and Johnny Cash are among the 12 to make the cut.

Cale, primarily a portrait artist, hails from Rhinebeck and studied visual arts at SUNY New Paltz. His last exhibition, which helped raise funds for the new Rhinebeck library, was titled "The Village People" and depicted Rhinebeck residents - all, once again, face-forward.

Similar to "Infamous Mugs," each of those paintings layered a portrait over a bright background. The color each person receives Cale said, befits his or her character.

"I look at the person and match the expression on their face, he said.

For his next project, Cale is considering a decade-themed series. "I'd like to do something with the 1970's or 80's," he said. "You know, people that defined that era."

He's sticking with portraits, though. "I kind of like the head-on poses," said Cale.

"Infamous Mugs" opens on the second floor of the Montgomery Row building on March 3, with a free reception from 6 to 9 pm featuring hors d'oeuvres and live jazz music. The Montgomery Row Building is located on Route 9 in Rhinebeck. For more information, call 845.876.8119, visit www.montgomeryrow.com or email mcale@hvc.rr.com.