Gentle Breeze 40x30

Comment

Comment by Karleen Loughran on March 13, 2012 at 8:20pm

Lovely piece, the fluid thick application of the paint, the use of soft color broken by random marks.

Comment by Resident Curator on March 8, 2012 at 10:45am

Curator’s Comment:  

 

The title “Gentle Breeze” strikes me as somewhat ironic, because of the passionate movement and rigorous brushstrokes in this piece.  It has a very painterly, intuitive presence.   I do like the slightly more subdued, quieter creamy whites in the painting, as they serve to stabilize and anchor the more extreme hot and cold temperature fluctuations. The small areas of dripped paint in the bottom center area and corners also steady the arching lines thrusting into the top of the canvas, and pull the eye back downward.  There is also a sensation of mining or excavation- something buried under the deliberate brushstrokes on the surface of the piece, rather than light permeating through the dense layering.   I find the diptych This Way interesting as well because of its more architectural blocking of color and space. There is a small amount of visual tension between the two halves, but overall the piece exerts a rhythmic fluidity due to the similarity of construction and replication of analogous color and shape.