Perfect Pairs: Two Artists, Two Diverse Styles, Two Historic Third Ward Galleries

Part I: Flora Langlois & Steve Lubahn

Sep. 08, 2012

10:25 p.m.

Two galleries in the Historic Third Ward opened exceptional exhibitions on Friday, which made for a valuable evening to view art as the year slips into Indian Summer. The two artists on display, Flora Langlois and Steve Lubahn, were as different in age, gender and medium as one could be, yet their aesthetic inspirations melded perfectly after listening to their brief conversations on why art remains their lifeline. At one opening, Tory Folliard Gallery presented “Flora Langlois: Fantasy and Other Earthly Delights” with the artist\'s new work executed from 2011 and 2012. Sitting comfortably in a chair and dressed in a smart sheath, Langlois proudly admits she is 85 years old and paints everyday from noon until 5:00 p.m. or slightly longer.  Her magical realism portrays landscapes inhabited with exotic flora and fauna rendered in exacting details using vivid color that can be highly sought by her collectors. This year Langlois began experimenting with frottage, a mixed media technique that she brought back into her artistic vocabulary which involves placing an object under paper and then rubbing over it to produce another raised image. Sometimes she infuses her acrylic paintings with frontage in only one small area, and in other selections frottage defines the entire image. In one frottage titled Bosque, a miniature profusion of glowing trees painted in candy coated colors hides miniscule figures stolling through this fantastical grove. The viewer revels, loses oneself, in the close study of this particular work, although actually this principle applies to all her paintings. Langlois concludes even at her stage in life, “It's about executing control, trying a different approach where you keep reinventing yourself.” Langlois\'s mother practiced as an artist and their native home of Costa Rica provides a multitude of inspiration. Just over two years ago, the artist returned to the states to make her home near her son and teenage grandchildren after living in Costa Rica for numerous years where her brother still resides. Yet, the images in the gallery convey her love of her homeland, the coastlines and tropical forests dominated by peaceful yet animated creatures and serene personas.  Women with flowing hair sit and tell their stories while they languish on the fertile ground or float in the landscape, the narrative primarily pictured with a feminine voice. Langlois's Evolution of Diversity exemplifies this by depicting animals from numerous geological eras in one fanciful scene or Another Happy Place…Telling Stories, a lively landscape placed along a river shore where feminine like goddesses seem to share their lives with those surrounding them, the trees dripping with a sienna colored moss against a cream colored, warm ground.  Although Langlois believes there can be a subtle narrative in her work that she adds a dash of satire to, she invites the moment where the viewer mentally places themselves in these lush scenes to complete the connection with the visual image. As if tiny figments from possible dream worlds inhabit a wood panel that recalls and resembles miniature Persian paintings. Langlois envisions these fantasy worlds keeping her occupied until she can no longer paint, for whatever reason, and plans to continue well into her 90\'s if possible. Although for now, her brushes, easel and blank white pages remain as vital to her as breathing. She paints solely from her vivid imagination, without preliminary drawings or sketches, because that would inhibit her creativity and the joy Langlois achieves in her own life and her exquisite paintings.  Part II diseases Steve Lubahn\'s artistic process by featuring selections from his interview on Tuesday at Art Talk Milwaukee. Tory Folliard Gallery presents: “Flora Langlois: Fantasy and other Earthly Delights” through October 5 or visit www.toryfolliardgallery.com. Elaine Erickson Gallery presents “Steve Lubahn: Inner Demons and Daemons” through October 13 or visit <a href=\"http://www.eericksongallery.com\">www.eericksongallery.com</a> <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p>

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