art commentary With Marion Wolberg Weiss

Johnson, Dinsmore, and Suter at Merz Gallery

Work by David Suter Photo by M.W. Weiss

What we often like about Sag Harbor's Merz Gallery is its "mix and match" approach, showing diverse styles/subjects in one show with no apparent common theme. That's not to suggest that the works are arbitrarily selected. Quite the contrary.

The current show is no exception. While Jane Johnson's and Stephen Dinsmore's paintings are more impressionistic than anything else, featuring mostly landscape, David Sutrer's sculptures are surrealistic and figurative. All in all, such variety and quality make for an effective combination.

Ms. Johnson's Estuary Paintings are mood evoking, capturing the blurred and emotional attributes of places like Napeague and Three Mile Harbor. Although these scenes have been subjects of countless works, there's something about the artist's conception and execution that make them unique. Perhaps it's the dream-like ambience or the fantasy environment that we relate to. Or perhaps it's the expressionistic traits, which the works begin to assume.

Mr. Dinsmore's paintings are similarly enhancing. The more we look at his local scenes, like "Near Doctor's Path," the more we experience the works evolving from Impressionism to Expressionism as well. What that means in terms of a "message" about the subject can only be suggested - maybe it's the idea that the more we connect with the scene, the more emotional our reaction becomes.

Mr. Suter's sculptures are suggestive too, because there are no clear-cut ways to interpret them. Even so, the interpretations are less emotional and more intellectual in nature. For example, we see a pattern or motif in his current pieces, notably often the use of box-like configurations and/or mirrors.

While it's true that Mr. Suter likes to juxtapose different materials (like smooth vs. rough), he employs mirrors for reasons other than their reflective surfaces. Could these reasons be philosophical or psychological? For example, there's a rabbit looking at himself in a mirror. Another piece also features a block-like figure reflected in a mirror.

Does this mean that animals and humans alike are really two parts of the same entity or a representation of the "doubleganger" concept (a walking double)? Or does it mean that we are victims of narcissism, to be more obvious? The possibilities are endless.

The current show will be on view until October 7.

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