James Gobel’s newest paintings recall both the intimate and traditional nature of the “painter and sitter.” Inspiration comes from Giovanni Battista Moroni, a portraitist who painted his subjects with the tools of their trade. Gobel chooses “It” fashion designers Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra as his subject matter with their respective runway models. The choice of this duo design team reflects the artists reverence for the designers’ trade and fashions, but also the designers themselves. In this set up both sitter and painter admire the others creative processes. Gobel modernizes his practice of portraiture, with his usual replacement of traditional oil paint with his industrious felt and yarn.