David Foss's "Exits and Entrances' at LGTripp

"Exits and Entrances," the exhibition of paintings and sculpture by David Foss at the L G Tripp Gallery, reaffirms the power and pleasure to be derived from paint applied to canvas by a skilled artist. We feel as if we can walk right into the space, experiencing the swirling lines and staccato dashes and forms that hover on the surface.

Foss's paintings have evolved from strongly textured surfaces in geometric patterns and intense colors to a more spontaneous expression that seems to reveal more of his id without the strictures of cultural constraints that I associate with rural areas. In other words, he's no longer so uptight and is more confident of his own artistic expression.

All Things Must Pass (mixed media on canvas) demonstrates Foss's recent exploration of gestures creating space with a limited palette of black, white and shades of red. Lines dance across the canvas, stopping momentarily to experience a round shape, a half-circle and a horizontal dash. Instead of thick layers of paint, these are thin washes together with Foss's occasional use of shellac. It's a satisfying composition that holds together while referring to the rhythm of a painted gesture.

Foss concentrates on symbols of passageways as a metaphor of life. Windows, doorways and passages lead to unknown places and events. They beckon, as in Entrance (mixed media on canvas, above) or challenge us with Veritas.

Foss's Dream Machine is so strongly structured that a foray into sculpture seems inevitable. His monochromatic wood "“and-Styrofoam buildings with dangling ladders stand on uncertain legs that underline a process of becoming. Now Foss must develop this new challenge of thinking in three-dimensional terms while maintaining his expressive ventures into the creative process.

Foss's paintings always reflect the human condition and his search for a deeper expression. Now I expect that his sculpture will embody this challenge as well as his personal response. That should be an interesting future.