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Richard Kalina November 13 Let�s face it; these paintings by Richard Kalina are all about pure design. And it�s not as though the artist is trying to hide the fact or even dance around the issue. In short, design is the subject matter for this work. In each and every one some variation of an evenly delineated grid pattern dominates the work. The edges of the forms are wavy, which seems to challenge the notion of design. But those edges are uniformly uneven and so also conform to the orderliness of design. Although the color varies as to hue and contrast, the intensity is kept within a narrow, albeit bright, range. The only counterbalance to the strong array of hues is offered by the tan of the exposed raw linen that defines the outside edges or peeps out from the lines that bisect the picture plane. Now, where have you seen patterns like this before? The first most obvious reference is traditional American quilts (which are also directly referenced in the press release). Kalina uses a number of techniques to capture the esthetic sensibility of quilts. It starts with the bright luminous color created by transparent collage and paint over a white under-painting. Then there is that rippling quality defining the edge of nearly every form. In a painting like Half Past Kalina cleverly employs a faux treatment of the collage to suggest 3 dimensional depth (look at the stripes in the detailed view) The result is to convincingly recreate the same sort of slightly uneven edges and 3 dimensionality found in sewn cloth. But there are other references too like the mosaic arrangement of ceramic tiles such as in Plan A. The thin white and raw linen lines imply nothing so much as grout lines. On the other hand a painting like Fata Morgana suggests emblematic iconography. The question hanging with the work is: can this be painting? Well, direct references not withstanding, this is definitely not quilt-making. The primary differentiator is that, unlike quilts, the paintings do not possess a utilitarian driver. As a counterpoint it might be argued that neither do �art quilts� as exampled in the work of Rosie Lee Tompkins (shown last year at the Peter Blum Gallery). But Kalina is not about �art quilts�; rather he is purposefully tapping into the same forms and sensibility that comprise traditional American quilts. The problem is that it becomes very hard for this work to cross over and escape its overt fabric design qualities. Table Stakes, for example, is too reminiscent of a cheerful picnic tablecloth design from the 60s or 70s. Contributing to the milieu is the excellent craftsmanship Kalina puts into their creation. After awhile it becomes just a bit too perfect and you are left hungering for some chaos. However, there is tension in the work and it specifically resides in the color relationships. Take a look at Breakfast at Noon and Table Stakes and notice how lively and animated the color is in a way that defies the static structure of the grid. What would constitute the death of this work, as painting, is if it was perceived as being serialized. Given the even intensity of the color, rigid structuring of the forms and the similar proportional dimensions of the canvases you might expect that to be the case here. But it just doesn�t happen. Kalina manages to create paintings that are tightly bound up in style; in fact style defines the content for the work. Yet in the arrangement and proportions of those same colors and forms each piece still manages to find its own sense of identity. You walk away from this show and the images follow you out. November 25 The last time we saw Kenneth Noland�s paintings it was in a show called �Five� at the Donahue/Soshinski Gallery in September 2000. Noland�s contribution to that exhibition was a 2000 version of his signature target imagery. In this show the targets are quite obviously abandoned for thin horizontal bands of color. This may seem a major departure for Noland and it is at least in terms of the imagery. But the paint handling, as well as the color, is as flat and color-field even as ever and the forms are pure straight-edge design. In short, if you�ve come to this show with expectations of painterly abstraction, you�ve never come across Kenneth Noland before. It would be easy enough to dismiss this work as pure design. All the elements are present; in fact to a greater extent here than in Noland�s earlier work. But such a value judgment would be too easy and too obvious. So, what is there about this work that elevates it to painting? Start with the color relationships which have always been the key to understanding Noland. Visual tension is extracted by adjusting the relationships within and between hue, contrast and proportion. It is the combination of these elements and the various ways they are arranged that has always defined the content of Noland�s paintings. With this new work in particular, one aspect of such tinkering is the energetic, luminous and vibrating quality they possess. The bands of color can function like pure stratums of light such as in Midday and from this perspective even possess a (albeit very oblique) connection to Rothko. From a more formal perspective, notice what happens to the spatial relationships. Along with the color Noland addresses space with the proportional arrangement of the forms. The effect is sublime, occurring as it does within crisp edged forms that neatly slice across the picture plane. But it doesn�t occur in every picture. Noland is most effective when he keeps the color range within the primaries and varies the contrast. When the color becomes sweet and overly agreeable, such as in AM, the tension drops away and the work drifts into formulaic design. This is show is well presented and generously spacious. A few smaller vertical canvases are included that nevertheless preserve the horizontal strata. On one hand they look like cross-section studies of larger pieces. On the other, they offer an interesting counterpoint to the unrelentingly long horizontals. November 25th Although a member of the New York School, John Ferren�s paintings do not look like they belong to the art created in that period. For one thing, there is his disjunctive approach where the pieces have all the exuberant color found in impressionism contained within rectangular frames and panels of flat color. Such diverse methods might be deftly managed and otherwise subtly engaged. But Ferren went the other way to aggressively preserve the differences. In other words, the wild painting is really wild and the flat painting is really quiet. �Color� is the one constant that binds these two diverse aspects. There is a calculated side to this work that predates a lot of the painting that would be done about 20 years later. But the thing is Ferren was so much better at it that then all of those second rate abstract painters from the 80s and early 90s. Why? Because he honestly understood �sensibility�. Look at the details of these pieces and see with what care the color is constructed. On this basis alone it would have been easy enough for Ferren to simply crank out colorful painterly abstractions. Instead he embraced the task of creating art that was about the history and tradition of painting while also pushing an assertive conceptual facet. Although this work can be understood as anticipating Post Modernism, the connection is not as direct as you may think. Whereas Post Modernism attempted (one might say futilely) to function beyond the realm of art history, Ferren never abandoned it or his painterly sensibility. His agenda, at least with this body of work, was simply to combine the extreme elements of order and chaos in the forms and paint handling but to have color trumps all. To what extent was he successful? The results are a mixed bag. A painting like Plan A looks overly calculated and any spontaneity feels forced. The brightly colored confetti-like forms exploding out of the center are too evenly painted with regard to the intensity of color. Next, that whole center portion is hemmed in by the redundant framing of the flatter colors that surround it. On the other hand the paintings Morning Light, JF #15 and Tandril are far more successful. In these pieces the artist sets up a terra firma of flat color which is subsequently ripped away by the anarchy of the aggressive paint handling. Tandril, in particular does an excellent job of combining the two extremes within one painting; the sum of which is greater than its parts. What becomes most interesting about this piece is how space shifts and so is rendered indeterminate. JF #15 is a masterwork of abstract impressionism with a far greater relationship to Monet�s Giverny paintings then to 80s abstraction. The show is well presented in terms of the amount and variety of work. There is nice balance between larger paintings and smaller pieces; several of which are presented in a smaller space. The only problem with the presentation of the work is the lighting, which is spotty and uneven. Unfortunately this results in the larger pieces having shadows and hotspots crisscrossing them. |
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