Art Commentary

Greenport Galleries

by Marion Wolberg Weiss

“Abstraction" by Mike Maas

Part 1

Like South Fork art venues, the Greenport gallery scene has had many challenges. Yet North Fork gallery owners, many of whom have spaces that are relatively new, are a tenacious lot, committed to quality work in often unique settings.

One example is the deCordova Studio and Gallery on Main Street, set among charming houses from yesteryear. As we've noted in this column in the past, the residence/gallery presents an environment that is comfortable, warm and inviting with its hardwood floors, seating areas and subdued lighting. Gallery-goers surely feel "at home" here because it's literally a "home."

The gallery's occupant is Hector deCordova, a well-known artist on both the North and South Forks. His works in the current show are some of the best we've seen, although there's still the recurring presence of both indigenous cultures and a spiritual sensibility. DeCordova's new mixed-media pieces feature a different format, however: images painted on scrolls (interlinings) that hang from the ceiling. (He will be showing these this winter at Costa Rica's Museo Nacional.)

Not all of deCordova's endeavors are scrolls, of course. Particularly eye-catching are small paintings, like "Dreams," where motifs of water and fish create an exotic landscape.

In Bob Markell's nude prints, the signature subjects are familiar, but one particular work, with four women in diverse stages of dress (or "undress") signifies "process." Markell's style is also new; the figures are now more delineated and defined compared to his often impressionistic images of the past.

Janet Culbertson's "Charles and Irma Wrapped" is another example of old and new, this piece recalling her Brancusi-like figures from a few years ago, perhaps only because they are couples. The current work is provocative, making us ponder its meaning and mysterious intention. Is the couple blissful-or dying?

William Negron's "Caballos 1" is another figurative example (man and horse) of subjects caught in an entrapping moment of time. Georgia Charuhas's "3 Faces on the Wall" is similar to Negron's style and overlapping composition.

Other art in the exhibit centers more on formal qualities and material. Consider Lucille Colin's "Vale and Mountain," a combination of computer technology and photography.

The overall effect is evocative, conjuring up all sorts of images that we think we see.

Photography is Barbara McClatchie's forte, too, especially salient because her work looks like a painting, not a picture.

Computer technology as material plays an essential part in Pat Yancovitz' multiple imagery: the meaning is somewhat ambiguous but still arresting with the juxtaposition of a mannequin seen through a glass window and a man walking outside.

Michael Weinstein's watercolor on wrinkled paper is just as arresting although it is not hard-edged but delicate in its creation and execution. We would never suspect that the artist is a teenager learning for the first time how to use materials. Good for him.

The current show at Greenport's deCordova's Studio and Gallery will be on view until Dec. 20. Call 631-477-0620 for information.

Back to Contents