Jennifer Packer: The Eye Is Not Satisfied With Seeing

This portrait of Packer’s close friend and fellow artist Eric N. Mack is one of several she has made with him as her subject. In this work, Packer has painted Mack facing the viewer with legs crossed, underscoring their familiarity with one another, while leaving it nearly impossible to discern his facial expression or details. Mack’s implicit refusal of the viewer’s gaze underscores Packer’s desire to get at something beyond a straightforward likeness of her sitter. She once remarked: “I used to say that I don’t trust representation. I’ve never seen a painting that looked real to me. But I’ve seen ones that felt real.” Here, she expresses that feeling or sensibility through her experimental and somewhat unlikely use of saturated color, bathing Mack entirely in red.