The first power of Jod Lourie’s art derives from the finesse with which form, image, and meaning are interbound, and from the authority the resulting visible appearance commands. The second power derives from the preposterous premise from which the artist works: that sculpture in the late 20th century can forthrightly employ. the oldest and most traditional form and subject matter, and yet not be confined by historicity.

These works arrive in the company of three thousand years of draped human figures telling stories: the women who lean into each other’s arms on the pediment of the Parthenon;