The eye catchers

There is a lot of art at Phoenix Framing and Gallery, 1729 L Street, but the first painting that catches your eye is a life-sized one, “The Hunger,” by Santiago Proano. Painted in a Spanish-influenced palette of red, black and yellow, this acrylic on wood exudes wrenching emotion, from the protruding ribcage to the grimace to the overall painful posture. But the very Picasso-esque linear movement lends a rhythmic flow and offers a balance to the tension. Georgi Demireu’s oil “Composition II” is a juxtaposition of form and texture. Blocky areas of smooth color, some graduated in hue, make for a background contrasting soft-shaped, faceless and exaggerated figures; patterns; and stripes. Demireu thins and splatters the paint for organic, dramatic windows into another world. Demireu and Proano’s work will be displayed through October 9. For more information, call (916) 447-1632.