Review

"Two Cans," Acrylic on Canvas.

Eric J. Persson

7 a.m.-4 p.m.

Mildred's Coffeehouse
1821 Wyandotte
Kansas City, MO
816.471.1155

Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday
Runs through: Sept. 30.

Artist's site: http://www.ericjpersson.com
Gallery site: http://www.mildredscoffeehouse.com

Not to overstate the obvious, but it's safe to say that a sizable percentage of the male population has a thing for women's feet.

Making that interest a key component of one's art, though? Now that's a foot fetish.

Or is it?

Eric J. Persson doesn't focus solely (ba dum pum) on women's feet. He also does abstracts and landscapes and has gained a significant following for his paintings of Roller Derby competitors. His current show at Mildred's Coffeehouse in the Crossroads, though, is made up entirely of what Persson calls "foot portraits."

To Persson, who also has work on display Downtown at VooDoo Tattoo and Art Gallery,  paintings such as Two Cans (above) are just as representative of their subjects' identities as more conventional facial portraits.

He explains: In my women’s foot portraits, I try to use just the feet with or without props as a way to capture the particular person’s mood or essence by just portraying them through their feet and invite the viewer to conclude their own story about this person, just the same as any other portrait.

It's an interesting concept, and one Persson has executed with bold brushstrokes and a clear affection for his subjects (especially as several of the paintings, including the one above, are of his girlfriend's feet). And with the other clues he provides — a red shoe here, a PBR can there — it is possible to construct narratives about these faceless women.

In the end, that's what divides fixation, if you will, from fetish. The latter depersonalizes, and that's the opposite of Persson's goal. He has a thing for feet, obviously ... but for the whole woman, as well.

-re-

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