by | Jul 10, 2017

Three of Theo Fadel's carved wooden figures stand on Avenue A in Turners Falls. Their bodies are based on the iconic Hitty doll that was the subject of an early 20th century novel. For The Recorder/Trish Crapo
Three of Theo Fadel's carved wooden figures stand on Avenue A in Turners Falls. Their bodies are based on the iconic Hitty doll that was the subject of an early 20th century novel. For The Recorder/Trish Crapo

Perfectly Imperfect

Holyoke artist Theo Fadel’s wooden figures and prints are featured this month at Nina’s Nook in Turners Falls — a tiny gallery packed with booming, powerhouse artwork. In Imperfect People, Fadel’s work is reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci’s Grotesques, a series of sketches featuring people with bulbous noses, sunken eyes, exaggerated chins, and deformities — But only sort of. While da Vinci’s Grotesques are beautifully drawn, they are also voyeuristic. Fadel’s Imperfect People have all the bulges, wrinkles, tiny eyes, and other characteristics that would strike them from modeling careers, but they are presented to the viewer with a kind of punk rock admiration for what Fadel calls their “heroic vulnerability.”

Theo Fadel’s Imperfect People: Through Aug. 8. Free. Nina’s Nook, 125 Avenue A, Turners Falls. (413) 834-8800, naban@verizon.net, ninasnook.com.

— Kristin Palpini