My Scrapbook
“Exit”
by Leslie Peterson Sapp
“A woman in a red dress and shocking white heels steals down a dim stairwell, her shadow looming against the wall, with nothing but a glowing red exit sign to observe her.”
A personal favourite of the Portland, Oregon artist, who’s art has been heavily influenced by film noir, has revisited this haunting image several times, judging from this 2021 Tweet:
“Is this the final move? The exit sign in this painting has been redone for a FORTH time- Will this be my final move? Is the saga of Exit over once and for all??”
I dunno, but I dig the classic trenchcoat-and-fedora look (is she a P.I.?), and the freefall of shadows tumbling across the off-kilter angle of the staircase. The furtive look backward, as she flees… what?… the scene of a crime? Maybe a murder? Or a bad breakup? Both?
THE PAINTING
- EXIT
(28×18, Acrylic on wood panel)
SOLD
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Leslie Peterson Sapp: I Paint What I Feel… and I Feel Noir
This site’s profile/interview with the artist - Leslie Peterson Sapp: My Art Tells a Story
The artist’s official web site, with an impressive gallery of her work, musings on noir and more.
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
