MORTIS DABORA Review by Terrance Lindall, Executive Director of Williamsburg Art and Historical Center (WAH) The limitless bounds of viewers own, not always controllable, imaginations compel them to visit realms that the body cannot. Dabora Gallery at 1080 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn encourages this. When entering Dabora Gallery for the first time, if you are like me, you are immediately swept back to that time of pubescent youth when one is entering the haunted house at the State fair sending chills down your spine and giving you goose pimples. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust after entering the dark entrance hall of the gallery from the bright autumn sunlight. The walls are dark and the floor the color of dried blood. Following the long corridor to its end, one sees black curtains pulled aside as if inviting the guest by some hidden and silent servant of this dark realm. This is what Dabora's current show is all about...Death. And it is also a show of some of the most superlative artists. Among the wonderful paintings in this show is one by Ray Abeyta, whose large format is definitely in the manner of the 18th Century Spanish/Mexican painters. He is master of the his medium and his art and would have been recognized as such in the 18th Century. The work represents a naked Indian priest dressed only in his plumed headdress and pissing blood into bowl of skulls and bones. It is a powerful and technically superb allegorical piece. Next to it is a painting by Hawk Alfredson, again excellent in the execution of an obscured face on a well executed standing figure, as if fate had smudged his soul as a punishment. Alfredson's work has the eerie and uncanny feeling one gets from the work of that greatest contemporary artist Francis Bacon. One of my favorite artists in Williamsburg is Alexandra Limpert. I have watched her work develop over the years in several shows. Her sculpture here at Dabora is her trademark skeletal steel form, in this case a winged goddess about seven feet high, lacking head like an ancient Greek or Roman statue. She is the "Winged Victory of Death" for the purpose of this show. It is an impressive and technically superlative piece. It has a definite presence, well placed by Lynda Mahan in a dark corner allowing for a surprised guest to come abreast of it. I predict that this sculptress will be making her mark in the art world of our time. Other works include John Viner's humorously macabre painting of men dancing with stilettos and Butcherbirds. The knives and the beaks of the birds resonate with each other. Nicole Pillar's fine little drawing is reminiscent of George Groz. I always liked her work. And the photo by Martine Julien of the Russian dancer Ksenia, who will perform at the opening on October 5th, appears to exude an eerie and bloody scream of light. There are 26 artists in the show. I wish I had the time and space to talk about each one of them. We must also mention the curatorial art which is so impressively apparent. Lynda Mahan could have made an excellent professional interior decorator. Her creation of macabre ambience in lighting and the uncluttered Victorian decor (including stuffed animal heads and wild boar carpets) combines with the high quality art and is a tribute to her taste. I should also mention she has a fine miniature work of her own in the show...a portrait of her former boyfriend, head only...severed and resting on a platter like John the Baptist. Best not to dally lightly with this Morticia! This has to be one of the best gallery shows for the October season in Williamsburg/Greenpoint, celebrating the harvest of living things and big sleep of winter to come...for us all. BACK