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When opposites attract
Leslie Fenton and Leo Sewell at Rosenfeld Gallery
Defying conventional odds, these two very different artists, when placed together, enhance each other's work and create an environment that you hate to leave.
Leslie Fenton's abstract mixed media paintings of the Maine landscape keep a tight rein on Leo Sewell's animal sculpture, so that both are seen in an art context and appreciated in that venue. Each artist expresses an unalloyed viewpoint, not a repetition of anyone else.
Is this serendipity due to the perspicacity of the dealer, Richard Rosenfeld (himself a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy) or the actual art on view? Perhaps both.
Fenton applies multi-layered surfaces of paint on paper to build up with mixed media a heavily textured evocation of craggy cliffs, outlying rocks and turbulent waters in changing tonal values of ultramarine blues, raw and burnt umber and shaded whites. The viewer can sense that chilly north wind and surging frigid water. Each of her paintings has its own definition and sense of motion. Among my favorites: Concealed Vessel, Schoodic Drop and Sense of Sand.
Buttons and bottle caps
Within this aesthetic ambiance, Leo Sewell's sculpture with found objects seems shocking at first, then delightful— just what one needs after inhaling Fenton's pure, clean air of the northern skies.
Sewell collects everybody's castoff ephemera. By now he has more than 100,000 objects divided into 2,500 different categories, all stored in his shop. Everything from decorative buttons and bottle caps to corn holders and gold-plated shark teeth will be put to use— even castoff scissors, weapons and costume jewelry. How can you create a shark without knife blades or an elephant without a gold chain for his tail?
Although Sewell lacks formal studio training, his master's thesis in art history at the University of Delaware was titled, "Use of the Found Object in Dada and Surrealism." Having studied the use of found objects, he presumably decided to try it and see if it works. Of course, it can and it does, in the right hands.
Joyful elephant
Sewell's animals inhabit most corners of the gallery on the floor and on elevated pedestals. He turns castoffs into colorful treasures that make you smile. Who can resist the two dogs attentively standing guard, three ducks that look so clean and shiny— still wet from the pond— and an elephant that radiates the joy of life?
Sewell has created these sculptures by painstakingly assembling disparate objects that vividly come to life. When you're surrounded by this fun-filled menagerie, the coldest winter day becomes warmer.
His other sculpture creates new forms from architects' rulers, cribbage boards (remember them?) and tall case clocks that still work. Sewell has combined a historian's vision with an artist's dedication to creating his own external world, and he invites us to share it. Accept with pleasure.
Leslie Fenton's abstract mixed media paintings of the Maine landscape keep a tight rein on Leo Sewell's animal sculpture, so that both are seen in an art context and appreciated in that venue. Each artist expresses an unalloyed viewpoint, not a repetition of anyone else.
Is this serendipity due to the perspicacity of the dealer, Richard Rosenfeld (himself a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy) or the actual art on view? Perhaps both.
Fenton applies multi-layered surfaces of paint on paper to build up with mixed media a heavily textured evocation of craggy cliffs, outlying rocks and turbulent waters in changing tonal values of ultramarine blues, raw and burnt umber and shaded whites. The viewer can sense that chilly north wind and surging frigid water. Each of her paintings has its own definition and sense of motion. Among my favorites: Concealed Vessel, Schoodic Drop and Sense of Sand.
Buttons and bottle caps
Within this aesthetic ambiance, Leo Sewell's sculpture with found objects seems shocking at first, then delightful— just what one needs after inhaling Fenton's pure, clean air of the northern skies.
Sewell collects everybody's castoff ephemera. By now he has more than 100,000 objects divided into 2,500 different categories, all stored in his shop. Everything from decorative buttons and bottle caps to corn holders and gold-plated shark teeth will be put to use— even castoff scissors, weapons and costume jewelry. How can you create a shark without knife blades or an elephant without a gold chain for his tail?
Although Sewell lacks formal studio training, his master's thesis in art history at the University of Delaware was titled, "Use of the Found Object in Dada and Surrealism." Having studied the use of found objects, he presumably decided to try it and see if it works. Of course, it can and it does, in the right hands.
Joyful elephant
Sewell's animals inhabit most corners of the gallery on the floor and on elevated pedestals. He turns castoffs into colorful treasures that make you smile. Who can resist the two dogs attentively standing guard, three ducks that look so clean and shiny— still wet from the pond— and an elephant that radiates the joy of life?
Sewell has created these sculptures by painstakingly assembling disparate objects that vividly come to life. When you're surrounded by this fun-filled menagerie, the coldest winter day becomes warmer.
His other sculpture creates new forms from architects' rulers, cribbage boards (remember them?) and tall case clocks that still work. Sewell has combined a historian's vision with an artist's dedication to creating his own external world, and he invites us to share it. Accept with pleasure.
What, When, Where
Leslie Fenton, “Paintings in Paper,†and Leo Sewell, “Found Object Sculpture.†Through January 27, 2012 Rosenfeld Gallery, 113 Arch St. (215) 922-1376 or therosenfeldgallery.com.
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