Yee Jan Bao
Betsy Rosenfield Gallery
Yee Jan Bao’s syrupy paintings of vintage automobiles are amiable send-ups of a centerpiece of American cultural mythology. He cleverly underlines what are already poignant tendencies in the auto industry—the manner in which a new car is packaged and presented. Like a fresh and pure beloved, it is full of the promise of personal freedom and the open road, of endlessly renewable possibilities. Bao plays off the standard presentation of new cars in advertising campaigns—that tantalizing, low-angled view of both front (or rear) and side views of the auto, as if it were shyly exhibiting its charms.