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Exhibiting At The Wickford Art Association Gallery13th Annual Art of the Ocean State Open Juried Show
AWARDS:
JUROR'S
COMMENTS: June 27, 2008 I respond to art that has a refined balance between the two classical imperatives—form and content. Art that displays a high level of craftsmanship must be coupled with a function (or effect) that reveals itself through the form. Whether the artwork makes us laugh, encourages us to think, or fills us with emotion, it must do something. I am also especially mindful of works that have some level of historical awareness, whether explicitly or implicitly. Many exceptional works of art have a sense of our “moment” that is derived from personal experience, and yet also exhibit awareness of our larger cultural histories and experiences. Finally, I am interested in artistic process. If an artist expertly reveals or highlights his or her process (of thought, of craftsmanship, of creation), I am immediately compelled to look closer and to learn more. It has been easy to select artworks that correspond to these concerns in the 13th Annual Art of the Ocean State Open Juried Show at the Wickford Art Association. The myriad of themes, media, and styles has made this process both challenging, and enjoyable. Rhode Island is a nexus of natural beauty, historical wonders, and urban growth (and decay), a diversity that is amply reflected in this year’s submissions. I have been honored to act as juror and hope that everyone enjoys the show! Ralph Williams’ pastel, Off Ft. Wetherill, Jamestown, is not only a representation of one of the most beautiful natural sites in Rhode Island, but a stunning image that I noticed when I first entered the room. In the tradition of classical landscapes, Williams focused on nature as a source of wonder. He expertly built color upon color with the pastel technique, creating an astonishing luminosity in the image. His mastery of the technique is also evident in his use of contrasting colors, which simultaneously balance the entire composition and infuse it with movement and dynamism. I found Bev Silva’s works to be quite moving, as well as refreshing, since she chose to characterize Rhode Island in terns of its urban sites, rather than its more canonical natural beauties. Her Cityscape #1 (Providence) was an especially poignant image. Its skewed perspective, integration of found materials, and muted tones create mystery while invoking the texture (sounds? even smells?) of the urban environment. What Silva has shown us is the feeling of the city via a subtly inferred narrative that makes us wonder about the people who inhabit it. Edwin Roche’s lively oil Net Floats, Galilee, RI takes as its subject an icon of Rhode Island life, the lobster boat, but without resorting to cliché. Focusing on just one portion of a boat, its buoys, and water, Roche relies on his viewer’s sense of familiarity with the scene. His schematic approach to place is quite effective, and his sense of color and expressive brushwork lend the image a sense of movement. He captured, therefore, not a timeless icon, but a fleeting moment of sunshine, color, and rippling water. Lorraine Bromley’s watercolor, Beach Treasures, exhibits a mastery of the watercolor technique. She uses the white of the paper to create reflected light and subtly layered washes to great effect. The image evokes the beach through the objects it depicts, but also through color and atmosphere; these latter elements also elicit memories, or perhaps sensations of a day at the beach. Lenny Rumpler’s photograph Providence Skyway #5 captures the changing landscape of Rhode Island, and the bizarre beauty of colored steel. His surprising composition recalls a classical approach to color and line, while his capture of the traffic carries the humor of light social commentary. One must also be impressed with how Rumpler captured such an image, presumably from just outside the guard rails! Laureen Watjen deserves a Judge’s Mention for her oil, Narragansett Marsh, behind Aunt Carrie’s. Watjen approached the canvas with rapacious energy, adding layer upon layer and scraping away paint to reveal color and line. For this artist, the marsh is not a steady, timeless site but a place of emotion that is constantly changing. |
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