“Have a nice Day,” Sh*t Happens,” T-shirts allow us to literally wear our heart and emotions on our sleeves (or should I say across our chest).  Icons of history and pop culture have become iconography in fashion as their faces are plastered across cotton blend canvases.  James Rieck explores non-verbal communication on multiple levels with Enter the Dragon, on display at Lyons Wier Gallery until February 26.

Using Bruce Lee as a muse, Rieck presents five lifelike oil portraits of women with T-shirts that depict fight scenes from Bruce Lee movies.  Martial arts is a dialogue between two opponents, and no one did it better than Bruce Lee.  The vivid depiction of the shirts serves as an unconventional and colorful reminder of his stunning form and technique. 

 

 

 

 

The portraits’ names, “Cockblock,” “Body Shot,” “Low Blow,” “Black Belt” and “Gang Bang,”  provided a sexual innuendo that corresponds to not only the positioning of the models, but the action in the T-shirt.  Enter the Dragon is short and to the point just like a T-shirt, and the dynamic illustrations definitely did not come from a comic book.

To learn more about Lyons Wier Gallery or James Rieck, click http://lyonswiergallery.com/.

Photos courtesy of Lyons Wier Gallery