The Scarab Club
Through October 13th

John Hegarty was honored recently with a signing of the historic beams at the Scarab Club and a retrospective solo exhibition to celebrate. Besides being a universally acknowledged class act as an artist and a teacher, Hegarty’s presence is quite fitting for the storied arts organization’s history of life model sessions. When it comes to accurately depicting the human form on a two-dimensional surface and teaching others how to approach the same, few can compare to Hegarty.

In his speech to the crowd of colleagues, students, and arts enthusiasts gathered for the occasion, Hegarty shared a story of his initial fascination with using colored pencil to render the human form and then appropriately signed the beam in three favorite pencils. He spoke of using line and color together – often seen as the separate domains of drawing and painting, respectively. The show is a collection of works in pencil and paint and really showcases not only Hegarty’s ability to bring these two together, but his love for the figure and devotion to the individuals who’ve served as his models. He brings to all of them an intensity of observation and great patience in observation over years, truly coming to know them. Yes, he’s a master at understanding how the muscles attach and function, but in staying with the works longer, it’s apparent that really he knows the people made of muscle, skin, and bone. They are revealed in their strength, their calm. His own autobiographical works lean further toward the narrative than his others, occasionally offering a more illustrative look. They tell a strong story of his own growth and change over time. They are quite honest portraits as his entire body of work is.

Hegarty demonstrates a great appreciation for the human form and spirit at an almost unparalleled level of technical mastery and truth in portraiture. The Scarab Club provides a great service in showing a large number of his works side by side. Don’t miss out. (This review was to appear last week to go in conjunction with his lecture about the work. Apologies for its lateness.) – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com