PAPER & CANVAS
IN CONVERSATION
March 8 - April 5, 2014
Eugene Brodsky, Don Christensen, Denise Gale, Mary Heilmann, Anne Russinof, Arlene Slavin
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Installation shots and pictures from the exhibition - courtesy Anne Russinof:
Denise Gale (left), Eugene Brodsky (center) and Anne Russinof (right)
Anne Russinof (left) and Arlene Slavin (right)
Mary Heilmann (left) and Denise Gale (right)
Anne Russinof (left) and Eugene Brodsky (right)
Don Christensen
Denise Gale
Denise Gale
Mary Heilmann
Eugene Brodsky
Eugene Brodsky
Eugene Brodsky
Anne Russinof
Anne Russinof
Anne Russinof
Arlene Slavin
Arlene Slavin
Don Christensen
Don Christensen
Denise Gale, the show curator, writes:
After seeing painters work on canvas and paper and being a painter on both materials myself, I have become intrigued by the process in which artist work on these surfaces. Working on paper can be a much more spontaneous experience. Paint gliding easily over a smooth surface of paper, as opposed to the thick material of canvas. The paint does not glide so easily, therefore making the finished product and the experience different. Some of the artists in the show are working with paper in a non traditional way. Arlene Slavin prints on paper and then works paint into the surface. Her work on canvas is purely paint on canvas with color ribbons of paint crisscrossing in an unexpected grid. Eugene Brodsky employs ink, paint, pencil and sheets of plastic to his surfaces. In some cases he juxtaposes painted squares making for a collage-like surface. His paper works look more like studies for larger pieces on canvas. The effect is gritty with recognizable objects immersed in an abstract field. Large spontaneous swathes of paint cover Russinof's canvas and paper. Russinof, Gale and Christensen use paper as smaller paintings, in a world onto themselves. Christensen's work on paper is little more tender compared to his bold, bright geometric canvases. Gale's work on paper draws you in forcing you to stand closer and has a different punch than her work on canvas. Her abstract image on canvas can be seen all at once. Mary Heilmann's paper and canvas pieces freely communicate similar esthetics and use of paint and color. The bold palette that is her trademark and her confident brush strokes do not alter much whether on canvas or paper; However, her work on paper assumes a simpler, honest and sweet quality when compared to her canvas counterpart.
The exhibit gives us a glimpse at the way in which painters think and work. Some works on paper seem like studies for bigger canvas pieces, an exercise to work out ideas for canvas. While other painters plunge into the paper with the same vigor as canvas. All of the artists exhibiting have a bold aesthetic, complimenting each others work. Canvas and Paper, In Conversation shows the unique way each painter uses these traditional surface in non-traditional ways.