|
|
The Buffalo News
OUT ON A LIMB
|
|
WHEN: Through April 4 WHERE: Bryant Street Studio, 289 Bryant St. ADMISSION: Free INFO: 884-9410
Then there's Piet Mondrian, the inspired Dutch modernist who some 90 years
ago created a series of tree paintings that grew progressively more abstract,
until depiction was wholly surrendered to construction. This led to
Mondrian's mature signature style incorporating austere vertical and
horizontal lines with primary-colored rectangular planes. Mark Lavatelli's exhibition of vibrantly painted tree abstractions
currently on view at Bryant Street Studio pays equal tribute to the forces of
nature and modernism, with more than a passing reference to Mondrian.
"Recent Encaustic Works," the inaugural exhibition of the
shoebox-sized gallery and classroom is an auspicious start for the new venue
and a striking accomplishment for the artist. Lavatelli employs a traditional encaustic technique by layering hot
wax-based paint and then selectively scraping the surface to reveal
underlying colors. He merges representational trees with abstract,
multicolored rectangular planes in a complex and visually compelling
interplay of color, shape and line. By means of this rich and complicated
process, Lavatelli reacts to the capriciousness of nature by creating his own
pictorial idiom - an idiom that masters the natural environment, while still
expressing its grandeur. For instance, in the large-panel painting titled "Hub," tree
branches weave in and out of Mondrian-like planes delineated by razor-fine
blue lines. Unlike Mondrian, Lavatelli employs a multitude of rich reds, ochres,
purples and greens that blithely advance and recede within the picture plane.
Lavatelli apparently works from small studies of white pine and hemlock
trees - two appear in the show - that focus on the trees' inner verticality
and rhythmic extension into surrounding space. But trees only provide a
starting point for compositions that echo the complex orderliness and rhythms
of the natural world. Some of the works on paper incorporate fragments of
collage - usually photo images of foliage - that are echoed in the brushwork.
In "Tree Construct No. 2," the integration of the abstract
planes and representational trees is less complete, and so less resolved
compositionally. This serves to underscore the achievement of works like
"Treeline" and "Span," in which Lavatelli incorporates
deftly incised, richly textured surfaces with an acrobatic interplay of
elements. Painterly flourishes - like the fluid scraping of encaustic
pigments to produce barklike texture - add to surface sensuality. Throughout,
Lavatelli demonstrates command of his medium and a profound appreciation for
nature. |
|
|
|
All content © The Buffalo News and may not be
republished without permission. All archives are stored
on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight
Ridder company. |