George Murff "Figurative Expressions - College Avenue Library - April 14, 2004 - 2 stars

Upon walking into the library with Murff's work encompassing the upper periphery of the walls, your eyes are diverted to the primary bright yellow barren background of "Survivor," a portrait recently exhibited at Dean Johnson in No Boundaries - A Multicultural Viewpoint. It may be the best of the bunch. A collection of oil paintings, pastels and watercolors, this body of work has a graphic sensibility to it, not a surprise considering Murff has designed banners and posters for local government, including "Shower your baby with love." Compositions look too extracted from photographs, as does the wavering realistic approach to the work. There is something a little amiss - some trepidation in the depiction of faces - that gives the portraits and figurative scenes in the painted works a stiffness instead of a lively lightness. The style in some pieces isn't personally distinguishable. Though passionate in subject matter, emotion isn't fully realized in the overall finished products. Through April 30, 2004; 317-269-1863. -Mary Lee Pappas