Monday, November 22, 2010

Close to Home at Van Brunt Gallery

Some images from the exhibit at Van Brunt Gallery featuring work by Colin Barclay, Peter Iannarelli and Stanford Kay.  The exhibit opened on Nov 6 and runs through Nov 28.
 
Stanford Kay, My Back Pages (The Birth and Death of Pictorial Space)

 
 Two of Iannarelli's plastic forms on the left with Barclay's Twillingate, Newfoundland on the right.


On left, Barclay's Storm on the Barrens, with Kay's Untitled, top right and Iannarelli's Untitled, below - 
another color coordinated grouping.

In what could be a stroke of conceptual brilliance, Colin Barclay has reprised his 2004 (or '05)  Van Brunt gallery exhibit on a slightly diminutive scale. Of course, I could be way off base here and reading more into this than there really is.

Stanford Kay, Mysteries of the Universe, on left, & two Untitled works by Peter Iannarelli.

Stanford Kay has been tweaking the shelved book motif that underpins his abstract works in recent years.  I have found each iteration has pushed the language forward.  This evolution continues on a couple of fronts in this show; both of them potentially interesting, although I prefer the smaller works; I find them to be are more brutal and direct statments in paint.



Peter Iannarelli, Untitled

 Iannarelli's Untitled sculpture with Kay's The Collector in the background.

This "pedestal" sculpture of Peter's steals the show.  It more fully embodies what Peter is interested in than the plastic cutlery pieces.  As with much of his work, this piece incorporates a degree of gravity defied.  Fortunately, Peter manages to escapes the trap of making this "magical" aspect from being the focus of the works; it's just another element, which along with the more tangible components work to support a broader aesthetic and philosophy.


Melissa Tatge's confluence of boot and skirt patterns was the highlight of opening night.

4 comments:

hoodoshnik said...

you really are kind of an asshole, aren't you? I'll be sure and read your silly shit when I need to know what kind of Triscuit crackers taste best this week.

cralbert said...

Oddly, I'm so not a fan of Triscuit. But when I get another great box of Wheat Thins, I'll most certainly let the world know.

hoodoshnik said...

Oh. Well, good luck with that.

Anyway, Im not sure what your problem with my stuff is. Looking at your blog and your work I don't even see why you are bothering to focus on one representational painter among many for abuse. You haven't much at all in common with me, certainly not enough for me to take you very seriously.

For myself, I don't have a problem with guys like you who do paintings of their underwear and call it art. Im sure it is, but I just don't speak with any fluency the same language you do. So I don't go out of my way to call it bullshit. I enjoy what Im able to, and leave the rest.

Mostly, I'd rather paint than talk, anyhow.

cralbert said...

As far as being an asshole, I do have that capacity, as do most folks. I guess what you consider to be abuse, I consider a light - albeit snarky - commentary that I think is in keeping with the tone I approach anything I've written about whether I like it or not, regardless of the genre or form the work takes. If one were to ask for my opinion, I think the skill with which you execute your work is fine and I don't doubt it brings pleasure to the many folks who enjoy it. For me, in repeated viewings, it had fallen short, and(although it's now been a couple of years since I saw it last) it hadn't pushed forward in any way - but that's just my meager assessment.