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Goddard, Dan R. "Two
painters celebrate nature in brilliant patterns, mosaics" Two painters celebrate nature in brilliant patterns, mosaics
SAN ANTONIO E XPRESS-NEWS ARTS WRITER
York painter Robert Kushner founded the pattern and decorative movement in the 1970s, emphasizing bright color, amorphous form, craft like materials and a cheery optimism. His brilliant collages of flowers, enhanced with gold and metal leaf, are on view through March 28, at the Parchman Stremmel Galleries along with beetle and floral paintings by Sally Chandler of Austin. Henri Matisse is often cited as an influence on Kushner, who is probably best known for his exotic paintings on fabric inspired by Middle Eastern design. Far from traditional still life’s, his floral paintings feature close-ups of flowers that are arranged like mosaics with different patterns and textures in almost geometric design. His hydrangeas and orchids break down into brilliant gestural sweeps of color. Highly worked and textured, the surface of “Villanelle’ is richly accented with copper leaf. Americans have always suspected pleasure,’ Kushner told an interviewer in 1990. To enjoy pleasure, you have to have confidence in it. People don’t trust that there’s any intellect in work by Matisse or late Picasso. My work offers moments of pleasure to those who are confident of their taste. Though often lush, Kushner’s work can border on the minimalist. On Japanese handmade paper, “ Forsythia” features the yellow and black flowers delicately highlighted with gold leaf for a serenely elegant effect. His drawings of “Irises” are simple yet beautiful. Chandler actually uses many different small paintings to make up her quilt like collages of flowers and beetles. The shiny, iridescent bodies of the beetlssparkle like jewels in Chandler’s “Beetle Collection.” The droll “Beetlemania” on brown paper combines scientific precision with a sensual nostalgia for the natural world. She uses glossy tiles to make ceramic images of beetles designed to be displayed on the floor. Chandler combines up to 100 images of flowers in large works such as ‘Summer” and ‘Autumn.’ With close-ups and distant views, her collages invite close scrutiny, but at a distance converge into complex, brightly colored patterns. While many artists have abandoned flowers as too fusty and traditional, Kushner and Chandler show that even the most trite and pretty subjects can be made new again. |
