CHERRY HOOD
"Piero-Bruder"
Cherry Hood, "Piero-Bruder," 2003, watercolour on paper, 61" x 40".
CHERRY HOOD
By Shannon Heth
Cherry Hood's portraits capture the beauty and vulnerability of the male adolescent. "While the young girl is traditionally accepted as the universal erotic symbol, I want to de-neutralize this doctrine and point out how unused we are to seeing the image of the boy."
It was both Hood's subject and technique that captured the eye of Vancouver gallery owner Diane Farris. "Some faces of the boys have the look of mistrust or numbness and some are trusting and innocent looking."
Hood obtained a Master of Visual Art from Australia's Sydney College of the Arts in 2000, and last year was winner of the Archibald Prize for Portraiture for her portrait of pianist Simon Tedeschi, chosen from over 700 entries. Her work is in numerous private collections in London, Paris, New York and Toronto. Hood's first Western Canadian exhibition, Bruder, runs October 16 to November 1, 2003, at Diane Farris Gallery in Vancouver. Hood is traveling from Sydney, Australia for the opening.