For its traditional summer genre show that features contemporary developments in time-honored photographic forms, the gallery has brought together four gifted portraitists, each of whom proceeds along a different path and projects a distinctive sensibility. Ursula Sokolowska’s color scenario studies of distressed people in decrepit environments exude an ominous sense of bitter oppression; Jess Dugan’s black-and-white environmental portraits—presented as triptychs—are warm and relaxed without being smarmy; and Jennifer Greenburg’s color images documenting the diehard devotees of the 1950s rockabilly lifestyle are consummated without a trace of ironic superiority or a hint of a sneer. The bold experimentalist in the show is Saudi Arabian photo-artist Jowhara AlSaud, who takes snapshots of friends and family and then etches out the negatives to create dynamic minimalist photo-cartoons that pack a powerful emotional punch just by virtue of their absence of detail. Having eliminated their facial features, but leaving their hair and the patterns on their blouses intact, AlSaud captures the vibrancy of three women pressed against each other in convivial friendship. (Michael Weinstein)
Through July 3 at Schneider Gallery, 230 West Superior
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