Deborah Oropallo, Blue Belle (2 of 6), 2010. Tapestry. Courtesy of the artist and Magnolia Editions, Oakland.
Deborah Oropallo uses a computer rather than the brush, and has always preferred a systematic approach to her digitally constructed paintings. POMP features a varied range of her work, including pieces from her Guise and Wild Wild West series where she addresses the issue of adornment, pageantry, and costume. The Guise series is focused on the symbolic function of 17th century portraits of aristocrats, emperors, and kings through elements of dress, gesture signifiers of wealth and power, with results that are imaginary representations of female figures. In her Wild Wild West work, fringe, spangles, lassos, and six-shooters—central elements of rodeo—are digitally arranged and layered to startling effect, suggesting ghostly and feminized versions of the Marlborough Man that play on collective notions of American West pop mythology.