Review: Stutz Art Gallery Tour

I attended the Stutz Art Gallery tour on Friday night. I arrived late, but the event ran until 11:00 p.m., so I had about eighty minutes to take in what I could. It was fast, furious, fun and fascinating. I want to comment on the artists and the work that impressed me the most.

Top Honors on my list went to metal sculptor Michael Swolsky (Studio B355). He has created works in metal that are beyond imaginative, making shapes, surface textures, and colors come together in works that are richly complex assemblages, many of which are made to be hung on a wall and viewed from one side, though others are free-standing, to be viewed in the round. I spoke to the artist first about a piece on the wall called, “Symmetry.” It was an assemblage of rectangular metal boxes of various sizes, on a pipe-work frame. He pointed out that the metals were brass, copper, and steel, each in its characteristic color. Box segments had been burnished on the surface with looping striations or angular striping, and those on the left were matched with markings going the opposite direction on the right, establishing the symmetry. He had also heat-treated some copper panels, bringing out more color variations, and had, by some method, infused many of the panels or box fronts with what I can only describe as peacock-tail eyes.

Swolsky had numerous other, spectacular works. He did some interesting structural things using horse-shoe nails welded together like four-pointed stars, and two wall-pieces representing trees, with well-realized branches and roots. He had one 3-D sculpture consisting of copper boxes and panels pierced in parallel strips, so the openings were as much a part of the work as the structures that remained. The most obvious eye-catchers are his constructions using a conglomeration of similar, curving shapes in many colors and visual textures. To describe the shapes used in this category of work (he has done several in a similar vein), I called them “distorted guitar-pick” shapes, though that doesn’t do them justice. If you have not seen Swolsky's work, I strongly recommend it. Grade: A+

Another artist I found exciting was Susan Brewer (Studio A230), who paints abstracts in a style that lovers of modern art will find familiar, but in a very good way. Brewer had many large canvases on display, and some of a more moderate size as well, each one different from the next, particularly in terms of colors. Brewer's paintings show a good sense of balanced asymmetry, a near-contradiction that defines good art to my eye. She works in acrylics, masterfully; she has both the artist's eye and the touch, as well (when, sadly, too many local try-to-be artists lack one or the other). I asked about her method, which, as I suspected, is a process that begins without a lot of pre-visualization; once started, the composition grows organically as she works. There is obvious motion and kinetic energy in the confident brush strokes, and it seems nothing remotely figurative or representational emerges, but besides a sense of motion and energy, there is dimensional depth for the swaths and blends of colors to dance. I told her I saw it as visual music, a synthesis of Stravinsky and Thelonious Monk. I hadn't thought so many good paintings could be done in this general category with so many remarkable, affecting combinations of color, each one unique and exquisite. Grade: A

Caroline Mecklin's studio (A455) was my last stop. Mecklin is an unapologetic figurative artist. She had an abundance of wonderful, tasteful nude female figure studies, each one with its own special stamp. I felt I could look a long time at one, exclusively, marveling at how it expressed itself gracefully, the product of a sure hand working swiftly, capturing a moment and imparting a sense that this piece succeeds in exactly the right way. The drawings and paintings are similar in subject, but manage to be unique in execution, making each one a gem to be gazed at, long-term. Mecklin described to me the way she works, always using live models, interacting with them, making the process of creating the work collaborative in real time, adding depth and human meaning to her artistry. We talked briefly about influences; I saw a hint of early Picasso in one reclining-nude painting, possibly the best use of color I saw among her works. Another piece mentioned Gauguin to me, though there was nothing “derivative” in any negative sense. Mecklin has done so many of these figures; some of them show how quickly they were drawn, but her technique is very good and every piece she displayed was worth spending more time with. Grade: A

I should also mention Pamela Jay (Studio A395). Jay describes herself as a “spacemaker/ recording artist.” Her studio was quite different from any of the others, as it was arranged with furniture, area rugs, soft lighting and lots of homey touches for a welcoming environment. She had various spiritual books (Rumi, Jonathon Livingston Seagull, The Silent Self), CD’s and records (an original LP of Cat Stevens’ “Teaser and the Firecat”). She had a soft, peaceful presence. We talked a bit about inner peace, which others may find corny but it’s a serious thing with me. She and I both sing, and we were quoting lines from an old song to each other: “Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.” Jay’s artistry entails consulting to arrange spaces and content for clients, sort of a New Age interior decorator, perhaps? Feng Shui was not mentioned, but I imagine she deals with that, as well. She sings, also, and has a pleasant voice. A beautiful person, more power to her. No grade. I just liked her.


DA