The Stranger

(ART) There is poetry in the materials themselves: tar, blood, wax, charcoal, oil paint, bronze. Enrique Martinez Celaya puts them to use in portraits of solitary young men in charged environments that raise existential questions and echo the romantic-symbolist impulse of artists like Albert Pinkham Ryder, Nathan Oliveira, and Giacometti. Paul Celan has been a constant inspiration for the Cuban-born artist, and the poet's writings can seem to describe these pieces: "To stand, in the shadow/of a scar in the air. Stand-for-no-one-and-nothing. Unrecognized,/for you/alone." (Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770. Tues–Sat, 10:30 am–5:30 pm, free.) by Jen Graves

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