Dan's Papers - June 13, 2008 - Art Commentary with Marion Wolberg Weiss

This critic has always been interested in titles, whether they apply to art works, galleries or rock bands. The Surface Library in Springs is a particularly unusual name for a gallery. One immediately thinks it might be a new singing group on tour.

Then we read the various definitions that the gallery owners have displayed at the venue itself; it begins to make sense. For example, while the term "surface" may have many meanings, its denotation is certainly appropriate to art. The term also has specific relevance to the gallery's current show.

As effectively envisioned by curator Christa Maiwald, the works celebrate various forms of media and the use of formal qualities to evoke diverse surfaces and textures. "Bone" by Greta Watson, a watercolor and crayon piece, has a primitive-like design relevant to the primitive employed medium, crayon, that recalls an ancient culture.

Eric Dever's oil on linen presents a different surface, a grid-like pattern on burlap that is constricted and structured, unlike Ms. Watson's work. Denise Gale's piece is different, too, complete with dark colors, spontaneous gestures and "textured" brush strokes. There's a feeling of freedom in the air, which presents an effective contrast to the exhibit's many other works.

Sue Papa's succinct and smooth mushroom sculpture is a delightful reminder of freedom and innocence. Papa's "Green with Moon" is also somewhat child-like. The placement of the abstract animal figure is off-balance, contradictory to the Papa's mushroom pattern.

Tom Wasik's "Decoys/Circadian Sunsets" is also designed in an asymmetrical way. The work's wood blocks are set at odd angles to each other. The red vertical lines painted on each block are similarly asymmetrical, adding to the overall effect that the blocks could be rearranged in any number of ways. Yet the smooth surface of the wood lends itself to balance.

In contrast to Wasik's work, Mary Boochever's piece is composed of perfectly placed horizontal stripes; the symmetrical effect is one of harmony and clarity enhancing the smooth surface created by such a design. Works by Kevin Teare and Fulvio Massi make effective uses of surface as well.

The show will be on view at Surface Library until June 22.