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Audrey Patten talks with admiring artlovers at Big Car gallery during the opening of her show "The Trials and Tribulations of Evelyn Masters".

A view of an installation at Audrey Patten's art show at Big Car gallery.

Audrey Patten's Show at Big Car gallery

Artist Audrey Patten is getting plenty of well deserved attention for her memorable and disturbing yet somehow at the same time uplifting artwork. This paradox is explicitly displayed in her gallery show at Big Car, entitled The Trials and Tribulations of Evelyn Masters. It's a visual biography of a lonely spinster, tracing the life of Evelyn Masters from youth to old age. The pictures on the wall tell stories of failed friendships, lost opportunities, small natural tragedies. Stories of a human being perhaps more comfortable with the animal kingdom than with the human condition. The objects installed in the gallery also advance the narrative. There's an ancient, rotary telephone that still seems almost pristine through lack of use: the only calls Evelyn Masters received were telemarketers or wrong numbers. An eye-patched deer's head gazes out over the abode of Evelyn Masters like a supervillain mastermind plotting world domination one spinster at a time. This all may sound a bit depressing, but the beautifully realized artwork is ultimately life affirming by the sheer skill of its execution. The gallery was packed throughout the opening on First Friday but the best way to view this show is individually or in small groups. Big Car is open on Fridays from 5 to 7pm and on Saturdays from 1 to 4pm. www.myspace.com/bigcargallery Do not miss this one, on display through February 23rd. Audrey is also featured in the current issue of Stretching Canvas magazine, available at Borders and Books-a-Million and plenty of other newsstands nationwide. www.myspace.com/stretchingcanvas