Scene from Rose and Book by Petra Mearns

The references in this uncanny painting aren’t clear. At the front of a stage we see a performer, seemingly dressed as a princess and like Cinderella wearing only a single slipper. She holds in her hand a white flower. Behind her, peeking out from seven “legs” receding into the distance, are stylized characters who seem to be drawn from folk tales: a king and queen, a dour stepsister, and so on. The scene is framed by footlights, curtains, and at far right a rope pull reaches out to us invitingly. Mearns’ title references a yearly festival in Barcelona; the painting’s anarchic energy also may derive from her experience with Hervey White’s summer “Maverick Festival” productions near Woodstock, NY.