One word can sum up oil painter Judy Ragagli’s specialty: Barbie. Ragagli uses only seven tubes of oil colour to mix up the precise tones needed to precisely convey the various hues of flesh-coloured plastic that such an oeuvre would require. Ragagli’s Barbie represents a Barbie of a certain class and style. Well-poised and ready to role model, this American icon is rendered in such a way that the portraiture wipes out the kitsch.

Judy Ragagli is showing at the Applegate Gallery in Santa Monica through October 20.

Fashion Editor Silken Flame