Glassy-Eyed (film)Bill Utermohlen (1933-2007), an American painter living in London, had the misfortune to come of age as a figurative artist in an era when conceptual and abstract art ruled the day. But in 1995, Utermohlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The diagnosis would change his life - and transform his art. Almost immediately, he began a series of paintings called "The Conversation Pieces." The brightly colored works, reminiscent of Matisse, are set at home, featuring his wife, friends and colleagues in conversation. Notably absent - or present, but distant from the other figures - is Utermohlen himself, already isolated by his art. That distance would become more pronounced in Utermohlen's last and greatest body of work: a series of increasingly dark and grim self-portraits.