29 THIS DELIGHTFUL series of drawings, titled Quote Un- quote , reveal Jim Amaral’s endlessly inventive erotic imagination. In this private dream world, free of value judgment and restrictions, desire flows freely in all its multivalent manifestations. Outlines are drawn with an effortless fluency that emotionally connect the figures as they gaze at each other longingly or playfully reach out to stroke body parts. A pastel palette lends a per- verse childlike sweetness and innocence to some sce- nes whereas boldly colored stripes and grids in others suggest stronger feelings. Physical and psychological metamorphosis is magically assisted via tentative and exploratory touch, at once tender, melancholy and pro- foundly human. It is a strikingly contemporary vision of sexuality, where restrictive labels such as heterosexual or homo- sexual have been banished so that intensely psycholo- gical fantasies can rise to the surface sans societal or familial guilt. There is every permutation of covered or uncovered bodies, ranging from daring total nudity, to conventional clothing, to coquettish undergarments and finally to fanciful cross-dressing and fetishistic ac- couterments like high heels and handcuffs. Architec- tural elements such as building facades and staircases hint at structure, but are compositionally undermined by psychedelic sunbursts and collapsing checkerboard patterns. Further destabilizing is the lack of any tradi- tional vantage point —instead each page can be read like a map, turning it around and around as feet walk off corners, figures hang upside down or are cut-off from the waist down or even fly with wings. Executed between 2002-2003, these 24 drawings are drawn from a remarkable series numbering 90. While each drawing is a standalone gem, being able to see 24 together allows the viewer to appreciate the series as a whole for its continuous and rich investiga- tion into its subject. Throughout his long artistic career in painting and sculpting in Bogotá, Colombia, Ama- ral has been influenced by French Surrealism, which he encountered while living intermittently in Paris during the seventies. Indirectly inspired by Surrealism, the ar- tist has explored the nature of sexuality in all media, including exquisitely constructed collages made from found objects. The Surrealists’ incorporation of chan- ce in their work, for example, can be seen in Quote Un- quote in game imagery such as playing cards and the chessboard. Metamorphoses of all kinds seamlessly occur within the logic of the dream — people levitate, walk through solid walls, a plant grows out of a man’s torso, to name but a few. Amaral’s phantasmagoric pa- norama of sexual longings and psychological vulnera- bilities appears fresh, youthful, and even effortless — the trademark of a lifetime spent both honing technical skills and exploring the self. THERE ARE NO NORMS. ALL PEOPLE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO A RULE THAT DOESN’ T EXIST F E R N A N D O P E S S O A * * The Portuguese poet and writer Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) is a favorite of Jim Amaral. —S U S A N L . A B E R T H