In the main gallery,“Susan Stamm Evans: Bronze and Porcelain” displays serene figurative andfragmented sculptures explored through a restricted palette. The featuredsculpturesboth free-standing and wall-mountedexpress the artist’s aptitude forrevealing the human form, especially the face. Instead of showing facesstraight on or in full view, Evans accentuates the featureseyes, lips, nosesand chinsthat best communicate the relationships or emotions she wants toconvey.
Evans’ Connections series portrays thesilhouette or shape of a face against hand-painted canvas stretched over awooden frame, with faces frequently placed within a rectangular niche createdin the canvas. Against the marble-colored canvas, the porcelain forms envisionsmooth, carved stone. This contemporary presentation resembles statuary placedin sacred niches at cathedrals or temples. The often-androgynous features evokea reverence for the human body, and will readily engage reflective viewers.
The East Gallery’s “LonMichels” exhibit encompasses acrylic paintings celebrating riotous colors andpatterns, often amid an homage to art history. Incorporating still life,landscape and figurative genres, Michels transforms his canvases withunexpected surface decorations.
By applying intricateand repeating patterns, Michels imbues these paintings with layers of visualappeal. When viewed from a distance, one sees a cohesive narrative. Whenstudied up close, new, imaginative details emerge. In Michels’ Modern Day Olympia,his tribute to Manet’s odalisque, he twists the nudity to the malefigure while the woman remains fully dressed, down to her stylish high heels.Whether noting the fruit tray on the floor or the vase held in the man’s hands,viewers will marvel at the painting’s color handling, all of which isaccomplished without previous sketching.
Michels recentlyrecovered from a disease that resulted in blindness, and his exuberance inworking again permeates his paintings. One walks away in amazement at theartist’s technique in these visual feasts for the eyes.
