Bears and Bulls

Goldilocks sits down to a hand of cards between two enormous bears, watched over by a grinning financier, a face on a dollar bill, and a small blue bull penned in a frame on the wall. Two tales of appetite collapse into one: the three bears of the nursery and the bulls and bears of the market. The little girl is gambling, and everyone at this table wants what isn't theirs.

James Formichella is a Gloucester painter who works by association. Each of these canvases has a companion in An Alphabetical Caprice, a notebook he compiled from his working notes and source clippings: an A to Z in which every letter spirals off into art history, etymology, money, madness, and mortality. He came to Gloucester from Denver in 1978 for the plein-air light, trained in oil under John C. Terelak, and is an associate member of the North Shore Arts Association.

One of a kind. Giclée on stretched canvas, a flat $180 regardless of size. Fish City Studios, 39 Main St, Gloucester. Leaves the gallery ready to hang.