a 6t o o N tt L! l a (, Z C' 0_ a =:- -T=tKil'{* *i;i!:ig==- Af\i* BY ABEL DELGADO When you're in front of a Ma colm Liepke painting, it s a most impossible to not have an emotional response, lntensiry ll features a woman riveting you to the spot r,vith her stare, whrle her hands are posed in front of her almost defensively, ls she inviting viewers in or warding ihem off? Alone Together shows a woman embraclng a man who's staring off into space, distracted-or maybe alienated-from her. ls it mornentary dlstraction or a sign he's lost interest in her? ln Seduction in Blues and Greens, a couple lies in bed, The man is asleep, the woman isn't. Her expression is pensive but it's not clear what :ff,,,-9!"tio n' oil on can-vas, 70 x 32 .F; she's th nking-maybe she has tired of him and is focus ng her seduct ve gaze on sorneone we can't see in the pa nt ng. This focus on ernot onal content is clearly reminiscent of the works of masters I ke Degas and Veazquez, among others, Not a surprise-these legends were Liepke's "teachers." His formal training at the Ad College of Design in Pasadena, California only lasted a year and a half. The school's emphasis on conceptual ad didn't work for the young adist, who moved to New York in the iate 1970s after dropping out, While working as a commercial adrst to support himself, Liepke studied the masters