tête-à-tête (tet-ah-tet) is a private conversation between two people, a face-to-face, a meeting of the minds, a clandestine coup. You are standing in a room of portraits, all looking at you, around you, through you, what are they thinking? What are they whispering? Portraits can be many things, historic documentation, flattering depictions, wanted posters, advertisements, etc. These portraits are expressive explorations into material and painting technique while capturing small moments in the lives of real people and imagined characters.

Bryant Bell’s bright smiling faces come from the people in his life and community, Sherry Brilliant’s layered paintings tell stories of her daily life, Polly Davis Chalfant digs deep into intuition to guide her otherworldly visages, Judeth Hawkins’ atmospheric realms capture people mingling mid-task, and Charlese Phillips breaks into three dimensions to bind her portraits together. We are celebrating the personal and the private moments through these portraits while putting them on public display. Get close to them, find out who they are, ask them their secrets and you may just learn something from them.