"Acme Mercantile" by Jaye Schlesinger

Contemplative pop art meets a meticulous photorealism in Jaye Schlesinger’s compact exhibit “Thanks for shopping here!” at Chelsea’s spacious River Gallery.

The exhibit marks an interesting transition in Schlesinger’s work. Her previous March 2010 Gifts of Art exhibit, “In Praise of Physical Labor” at the University of Michigan Hospital System, was a similar celebration of photorealism — albeit one devoted to tools and appliances, while the focus of new new exhibit is shopping bags.

She said of that earlier UMHS exhibit, “The origins of my work lie in observing the world and taking note of visual elements which I find worthy of further consideration. I look with intensity at subjects that intrigue me, and I try to portray them in a way that allows them to become symbolic, metaphorical, or provocative in some way.”

“In Praise of Manual Labor” captured the workaday world’s tools with such a heightened penetration, it seemed as though these objects were telling us their story.

By contrast, Schlesinger’s 16 oil on linen shopping bags in this River Gallery display not only tell us their story; they also tell us how they got there. The chief difference between those earlier works’ pristine appearance and these ephemeral bags lies in these latter objects' used state.

Let’s just say by Schlesinger’s standards, these bags have a lot of soul. She’s clearly taken with their folds and creases, and in them she finds the stuff of drama.

In much the same way that a single strategically placed blemish can reveal character in an otherwise pristine portrait, Schlesinger finds integrity and character in her bags' wrinkles and warp.

Then, starting with what has to be one of the most humble of topics possible and elevating its meaning until it begins to attain significance, Schlesinger adds the ironic wit of pop art.

For it’s not merely any bag that seemingly attracts her attention, but the up and down scale of their imprimatur that also lends these works their heightened meaning. There is after all a difference between the anonymity of the common paper bag and a prestigious department store’s carrier. Like all good pop art, the play of Schlesinger’s commercial signifiers creates meaning that collides with common utility.

It’s likely not an accident, therefore, that among this clutch of relative equals — including “American Apparel,” “Macys,” “American Mercantile,” and “Whole Foods ”— Schlesinger’s otherwise seemingly modest “Ziploc” painting is likely the unpresumptuous masterwork of this already self-effacing exhibit.

The plastic bag’s diaphanous used texture must have made its foreground and background an irresistible challenge for her. Its character-building flaws are in place; moving from positive to negative ground with ingenious complexity.

It’s likely a “Ziploc” bag has never had such dignity. But this is specifically what Schlesinger lends to it through her aesthetic. And it’s this kind of single-minded respect that makes her “Thanks for shopping here!” rich art by any definition.

“Jaye Schlesinger: ‘Thanks for shopping here!’” will continue through Dec. 31 at the River Gallery, 120 S. Main St., Chelsea. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; and noon-4 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 734-433-0826.