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Works in progress, like life itself
Gallery gazing: Three spring shows
Philadelphia's art galleries, like spring bulbs and cherry trees, have suddenly burst into bloom. Here are three current exhibitions worth a visit.
New energy at Schmidt/Dean
"Shadows and Reflections" by Robert Straight exhibits varied shaped paintings of mixed media with light-filled colors that radiate a wholly new vitality. Straight's art seems to be in the process of becoming, much like life itself. Its effect energizes everything around it.
Working with laser-cut paper discs in collage and other forms, Straight paints botanical shapes that seem evolved from pure geometry into basic life forms. Look closely at his paintings and you'll discern a woven pattern under the surface layer of paint— a fabric he has applied to the wooden support. This technique adds a textural quality, providing another dimension.
Schmidt/Dean Gallery, 1719 Chestnut St., fourth floor. (215) 569-9433 or www.schmidtdean.com.
Looking inward at L.G. Tripp
Works by Yvonne Love and Michelle Marcuse provide a welcome respite from all the high-voltage colors in today's visual images, directing us toward a more introspective universe.
Using modeling paste and resin on clayboard, Love creates relief patterns in a complex rhythm. They're the equivalent of a poetry of the mind— a meditative landscape that each viewer can personalize.
Michelle Marcuse employs a different medium from her previous paintings of encaustic. Here she exhibits small works in pen, ink, pencil and gouache on silver leaf alloy on Japanese paper— introspective, abstract markings on a background that almost completely absorbs the color contrasts.
These paintings are subtle works of an intimate, emotional quality. To fully appreciate them, you must first let your eyes adjust to the nuanced gradations of forms that seem to emerge as you gaze at the work.
Marcuse always has been a painter of introspective depth. Her gradually emerging fragments of form ultimately disintegrate: a commentary on life's cycle, which is revealed and then obscured.
LGTripp Gallery, 47 N. Second St. (215) 923-3110 or www.lgtrippgallery.com.
Spring and rebirth at Rosenfeld
Diane Pieri and Val Rossman proclaim "Spring" with new works in vibrant colors.
Pieri creates abstract views of nature confined by patterns that recall the designated spaces of a landscaped garden. Using mixed media on Latka paper and colors in a warm spectrum, she paints abstract forms that seem to be in a state of growth— fluid, evolving and proclaiming the joy in life. They're the perfect antidotes to a dreary day.
Rossman exhibits two different groups of paintings. Abstract pastels on paper— typical of 20th-Century art— have been her traditional forms of expression. But the Rosenfeld's front gallery displays her new, vibrant paintings in acrylic on aluminum geometric forms and structures. These vital and original pieces represent the new art of the 21st Century.
In effect this exhibition becomes an excellent demonstration of an artist's development— constantly evolving, never stagnant. In that respect, art is like riding a bicycle: To stay up, the artist must constantly move forward.
Rosenfeld Gallery, 113 Arch St. (215) 922-1376 or www.therosenfeldgallery.com.♦
To read a response, click here.
New energy at Schmidt/Dean
"Shadows and Reflections" by Robert Straight exhibits varied shaped paintings of mixed media with light-filled colors that radiate a wholly new vitality. Straight's art seems to be in the process of becoming, much like life itself. Its effect energizes everything around it.
Working with laser-cut paper discs in collage and other forms, Straight paints botanical shapes that seem evolved from pure geometry into basic life forms. Look closely at his paintings and you'll discern a woven pattern under the surface layer of paint— a fabric he has applied to the wooden support. This technique adds a textural quality, providing another dimension.
Schmidt/Dean Gallery, 1719 Chestnut St., fourth floor. (215) 569-9433 or www.schmidtdean.com.
Looking inward at L.G. Tripp
Works by Yvonne Love and Michelle Marcuse provide a welcome respite from all the high-voltage colors in today's visual images, directing us toward a more introspective universe.
Using modeling paste and resin on clayboard, Love creates relief patterns in a complex rhythm. They're the equivalent of a poetry of the mind— a meditative landscape that each viewer can personalize.
Michelle Marcuse employs a different medium from her previous paintings of encaustic. Here she exhibits small works in pen, ink, pencil and gouache on silver leaf alloy on Japanese paper— introspective, abstract markings on a background that almost completely absorbs the color contrasts.
These paintings are subtle works of an intimate, emotional quality. To fully appreciate them, you must first let your eyes adjust to the nuanced gradations of forms that seem to emerge as you gaze at the work.
Marcuse always has been a painter of introspective depth. Her gradually emerging fragments of form ultimately disintegrate: a commentary on life's cycle, which is revealed and then obscured.
LGTripp Gallery, 47 N. Second St. (215) 923-3110 or www.lgtrippgallery.com.
Spring and rebirth at Rosenfeld
Diane Pieri and Val Rossman proclaim "Spring" with new works in vibrant colors.
Pieri creates abstract views of nature confined by patterns that recall the designated spaces of a landscaped garden. Using mixed media on Latka paper and colors in a warm spectrum, she paints abstract forms that seem to be in a state of growth— fluid, evolving and proclaiming the joy in life. They're the perfect antidotes to a dreary day.
Rossman exhibits two different groups of paintings. Abstract pastels on paper— typical of 20th-Century art— have been her traditional forms of expression. But the Rosenfeld's front gallery displays her new, vibrant paintings in acrylic on aluminum geometric forms and structures. These vital and original pieces represent the new art of the 21st Century.
In effect this exhibition becomes an excellent demonstration of an artist's development— constantly evolving, never stagnant. In that respect, art is like riding a bicycle: To stay up, the artist must constantly move forward.
Rosenfeld Gallery, 113 Arch St. (215) 922-1376 or www.therosenfeldgallery.com.♦
To read a response, click here.
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