Dan's Papers - July 3, 2009 - Will Barnet, Gerson Leiber at Leiber Museum

Tucked away in the farmlands of Springs, East Hampton, its existence designated simply by a common mailbox, the Leiber Museum is an elegant, mysterious building. Built in 2005 to exhibit the artistic careers of Gerson and Judith Leiber, this month the work of Will Barnet, close friend and former teacher of Mr. Leiber, is also on display.

Upon entering the museum, visitors are greeted by Judith Leiber's dazzling and glamorous sequined handbags. Just beyond, the box-like layout of the space is divided in half with a selection of Barnet's prints and sketches from the '40s to '60s occupying one half and Leiber's new watercolor series the other. Though more than a half-century separates the series, they present viewers with a living dialogue about the importance of fusing tradition and innovation.

In an interview, Barnet said his inspiration for the woodcuts and etchings on display goes back 2,000 years. In the 1940s, he and other artists became interested in the carvings of a Native American tribe from Arizona. In working from this ancient source material, Barnet feels he created pieces that were deeply American, yet strikingly original. His abstract landscapes convey something primal. Dark pieces like "Compression - Spokane" and "Dark Image II" have an overwhelming character, reminding viewers of nature's silent and patient power.

Barnet's strength in color and composition are reasons these pieces continue to resonate with viewers. In a complex piece like "Wine, Women, and Song," Barnet exercises complete control of his composition, leaving just enough negative space for the eye to rest but enough motion and variety that the eye is never caught in one place. On the other hand, these pieces are greatly aided by Barnet's willingness to relinquish control. His bold compositions draw viewers in, but it is the freedom of the details that keeps them captivated. The visible linoleum cuts and misplaced splashes of color add something truly wild to a piece that was composed to convey wildness. The same is true for pieces like "Province by the Sea," where the visible fields of wood grain take on a contemplative narrative of their own within the piece.

Avis Berman, in her essay "The Genius of the Place: The East End Watercolors of Gerson Leiber," compared the acceptance gardeners ultimately feel for the whims of nature to the control painters are sometimes forced to give over to their medium. (The metaphor is particularly apt as Leiber tends the scrupulous gardens of the museum.) Gerson Leiber's chosen mediums of watercolor paint and gouache in his latest series are renowned for their unreliability.

Working from a Cubist background, Leiber's paintings of East End architecture are structured and geometrical, but the new medium weaves improvisation into the compositions. It's a fitting choice for the project, which deconstructs buildings into basic, clichéd shapes - triangles for roofs, rectangles for windows, etc. - because it mirrors the freedom children have when they do the same thing. Whereas children's motor skills haven't developed enough to create an accurate rendering of a house, Leiber's medium imposes its own ideas on what the finished product should look like. In pieces like "The Village of Self Denial" and "A Thriving Market Town" the play between Leiber's masterful compositional sense and the watercolor paint's willfulness is evident.

In speaking with Leiber, he said he works from all different types of East End architecture, even "McMansions." He finds these structures interesting because in a way they do his work for him, presenting viewers with a jumble of recognizable house parts in impossible configurations. He said his favorite structure will always be the traditional New England saltbox shape, though.

In regards to architecture and beyond, Leiber has seen a lot of change in his 50 years on the East End. Though, according to Berman's essay, his titles are often absurd, thought of separately from the work and assigned randomly, Leiber admitted in an interview that some titles have significance. Perhaps the most expressive piece in the show is a colorful, violent painting titled "South Fork Summer." In this piece, Leiber allows the gouache to take over, bleeding into and out of his barely recognizable structures. When asked about the violence of this piece, he said, "Yes, well, isn't it?"

Barnet and Leiber both present series that attempt to reveal something eternal. Barnet's prints convey something pulsing and alive about the various moods nature adorns, something early Americans must have sensed two millennia ago. Leiber transforms unique houses into every house. Through an atmospheric type of Cubism, he presents viewers with a version of shelter that everyone has drawn and everyone can recognize. When asked whether he thought the mission of visual art had changed in 50 years, Leiber said, "What mission? The mission of art has always been to make a good picture."

The Leiber Museum is located at 446 Old Stone Highway in the Springs area of East Hampton and is open Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The exhibition is on display through September 7. Call 631-329-3288 for more information.