PEOPLE TO WATCH IN '99
Isabel Samaras
Painter

A San Francisco painter sure to win our hearts, Samaras puts pop icons in unusual situations that are downright comical. Picture Frankenstein and his bride locked in a hot embrace and you get the picture. She uses enamel paint on old metal TV trays to depict the Addams family, Michael Jackson, or Batman, giving the works multiple layers of '70s TV nostalgia.

Metropolitan Magazine
Dec. 21, 1999

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POP TARTS
Aug 6-30, 111 Minna St.
Curator Sacha Eckes describes her all women art show, Pop Tarts, as a "visual feast of pinup babes, power-drill-toting women and girls engaged in not so sinless activities." Included are Eckes' own crazy-girl illustrations, as well as works by Isabel Samaras, whose campy pop style will likely make her a favorite. Using enamel paint on old metal TV trays, Samaras cheekily plays with '70s iconography, putting the Addams family in bed together a la 'Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice'. Her other paintings include such sexually ambiguous figures as Michael Jackson and Batman.

Christine Brennerman
Metropolitan Magazine
July 27, 1998