Mona Brody: Portals, Apparitions and Other Voices, solo show at Watchung Arts Center, 9/16/23 - 10/22/23

by Bruce Halpin

Mona Brody’s show “Portals, Apparitions and Other Voices" at the Watchung Arts Center presents an effulgent excursion into the Sublime. I mean this particularly in a specific formal sense as well as the more commonly understood connotation: beautiful to the point of ineffability.The beauty of the paintings is what strikes the viewer immediately and emphatically. The other sense of sublime requires some explanation. 

In her seminal text on American painting of the Nineteenth Century: “Nature and Culture", Barbara Novack identifies two distinct aspects of the sublime, what she refers to as The Grand Opera and the Still Small Voice applied variously to artists such as Fredric Edwin Church and Fitz H Lane; Church obviously representing the grand opera and Lane, the still small voice. These two aspects of the sublime play back and forth throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and now into the 21st. Examples of the two might include Pollack, Rothko, on the one hand, and say, Agnes Martin or Forrest Bess on the other. Of particular significance is Bill Jensen whose early work, much influenced by Ryder, served as a jumping off point to his current painterly explorations. Mona Brody’s work is very much of the grand opera scheme, although the influence of nature in her paintings temper that. Edmund Burke, the 18th century revivalist of the sublime emphasized “Astonishment" and the transformative potential of the experience as being central to the sublime. Ms Brody’s paintings express that sentiment to the extreme. Her use of unconventional materials (shellac and raw pigments) implies a sensibility searching for extreme expression, as if mere paint and canvas could not alone supply the super charged effects she is seeking. The application of those materials also suggests a kind of “take it to the limit" feeling of these paintings. As Burke also suggested, beauty is not the proper vehicle for extreme and mysterious experience, a sense of transcendence is needed for the sublime to operate. 

Viewers seeking a profound experience, touching on mystery and imagination, owe it to themselves to see this show. 

Mona Brody: Portals, Apparitions and Other Voices, curated by Paul Pinkman, at Watchung Arts Center, 18 Sterling Road, Watchung, NJ, runs through October 22, 2023.

Bruce Halpin is an artist living in Jersey City. Read Bruce's bio here and view his artwork here.

Ani Rosskam and Bill Leech: A Wonderful World, 9/29/22 - 1/13/23, The Terrarium Gallery and The Alcove Gallery at Drawing Rooms

by Bruce Halpin

Ani Rosskam left and middle
Bill Leech right

Ani Rosskam and Bill Leech have provided a fascinating look into a world of serious whimsy; full of magic and humor, as well as viscerally impressive color. A substantial portion of the show is comprised of large scale works hugely ambitious and yet touchingly intimate and personal.  

Ani Rosskam’s work, while quite different from Leech’s work, compliments his ideas. The large  painting “Plop” is like an unlikely collision of color field painting and some sort of surrealism  that really defies any categorical attempt to be defined. Another large work, “Old Black Painting“, displays a sort of dream logic that disappears when you get too close to its meaning. In addition to the large works, Rosskam’s smaller works, mostly collage, invoke a similar undefinable unease combined with a sharp wit and undeniable humor. You are not going to be able to put a finger on what’s happening here. The work is disquieting, yet familiar, almost like an X-ray of a really complicated sensibility with which you mistakenly believe you’re familiar.  

Bill Leech’s large paintings employ an astonishing variety of painterly strategies that often seem to be at odds with each other but ultimately combine as a coherent statement. And it’s fun to see.  

Leech’s command of painting techniques brings an authoritative completeness to what otherwise might be just too disparate to coexist in a painting wherein the magic lies. Leech’s use of color is equally impressive. He has included some drawings and prints that further augment his vision and provide other avenues of wonder. There’s a private intuitive logic that makes it all work. 

When considering that these two artists live together, it’s hard to believe there’s enough room in any finite place for these huge imaginations. Sometimes it seems as if they are in a dialogue exchanging oblique messages about a shared universe. Of course each body of work stands on its own strength, but together they provide a powerful experience for the viewer and a glimpse into what is indeed a wonderful world.

Ani Rosskam and Bill Leech: A Wonderful World, curated by Anne Trauben, runs from 9/29/22 - 1/13/23.

Bruce Halpin is an artist living in Jersey City. Read Bruce's bio here and view his artwork here.

THE BIG SHOW: All Animals Welcome, 12/14/19 - 2/8/20, at Drawing Rooms

by Bruce Halpin
1/29/20

THE BIG SHOW: All Animals Welcome at Drawing Rooms is a big (nearly 70 artists, 136 works) rambunctious offering. Curated by Anne Trauben, the works include paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, video and objects. The works in the show investigate the varied relationships humans have with animals as companions, providers of utility as well as objects of reflection and metaphor.

“Midnight Companion” by Judith Witlin

“Secret Conversation” by Judith Witlin

“Goddamn Crow” by Michael Lavorgna

“Moonlight Deer” by Michael Lavorgna 

“Anecdote of a Chiken” by Ibou Ndoye

“House Mouse” by Ibou Ndoye

The earliest figurative paintings were of animals. Their function is largely open to conjecture but seems to revolve around the hunt and suggest a spiritual connection between the animals and the hunters. This is certainly the case with paintings by the Indigenous Peoples of North America. Many works in the show convey a spiritual connection to their subjects. Among these are the monoprints “Midnight Companion” and “Secret Conversation” by Judith Witlin. Two works by Michael Lavorgna “Goddamn Crow” and “Moonlight Deer” share that dreamlike quality. Two small works by Ibou Ndoye “House Mouse” and “Anecdote of a Chiken” also suggest a shamanistic connection between artist and subject.

“Double Rainbow” by Bud McNicol

“Breakfast Surprise” by Robert Zurer 

“Flamingo” by Eileen Ferara 

Anne Trauben’s video “Indie’s Escape”

Alejandro Ruben’s video “Earthworms”

A sense of humor is a strong current which runs through the show. Bud McNicol’s “Double Rainbow” presents a camping trip gone terribly awry, it’s hilarity underscored by it’s anodyne title. Robert Zurer’s tiny painting, “Breakfast Surprise” is a goofy, yet beautifully painted, rendering of what appears to be a giraffe wearing a red surgical mask. Eileen Ferara’s “Flamingo” is reminiscent of a painting by Audubon on acid with its woefully convoluted neck. Anne Trauben’s short video “Indie’s Escape” displays a rather madcap humor (I won’t spoil it by describing it). Likewise, Alejandro Ruben’s “Earthworms” is dryly humorous, contrasting the video of the worms with a Salsa soundtrack.

"Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" by Andrea Geller

"Shadow" by Andrea Geller

"Waiting" by Andrea Geller

"Waiting II" by Andrea Geller

Tracey Kerdman’s painting “Milk Teeth”

Tracey Kerdman’s painting “The Offering”

While animals as companions comprise a substantial portion of the works here, a number of pieces exceed the documentary. Andrea Geller’s four oil paintings are really meditations on the nature of materials, color and light. These paintings are forcefully beautiful with deft handling of paint. Similarly, Tracey Kerdman’s paintings, “Milk Teeth” and “The Offering” transcend their subjects in weird, uncomfortable ways. “Milk Teeth” shows two adolescent boys flanking a German Shepard. The undercurrent of unease is not in what this painting shows, but, rather, in what is left out. “The Offering” evinces a similar displacement of normal life. The subject (a dog) is presented as a specimen or object of examination, clinically displayed as if in preparation for some sort of procedure. In both of these works there is an inversion of the “family pet” picture, with an unstated but felt menace lurking somewhere beyond the frame.

"Pelt 4" by Caroline Burton

"Pelt 5" by Caroline Burton

"Pelt 6" by Caroline Burton

"As Luck Would Have It" by Caroline Burton

Caroline Burton’s paintings “Pelt”, “Pelt”, “Pelt” and “As Luck Would Have It”, draw attention to the idea that our relationship to the world of animals is not always benign. Her sensitively painted pelts belie the violence, which transforms them from the skin of a living animal to an object, presumably of utility. Perhaps Ms. Burton’s intent is to disrupt the sentimentality inherent in “cute furry things”, injecting a dose of reality for our consideration.

"Keeping Us in Line" by Stephen Krasner

Many of the works I can only mention in passing but deserve appreciation. They occupy a category I can only describe as “other”. Steven Krasner’s sensitive portraits of his poodle companion have a glow that seems almost otherworldly and thoroughly transcend the “pet portrait”.

Cheryl Hochberg’s “Wool Spinner”

Robert Levy’s “Loading Zone”

Joshua Field’s “Thinking About the Many Ways We Are Bound”

Works that consider the utility of animals include Cheryl Hochberg’s “Wool Spinner”, Robert Levy’s “Loading Zone” and Joshua Field’s “Thinking About the Many Ways We Are Bound”. Mr. Field’s work seems to be based on a manual of how a horse is hobbled but expands to become metaphor.

"Wandering Cow" by Beatrice Mady

"Second Life of Limulus Polyphemus" by Milosz Koziej

"Beavers Revenge" by Casey McGarr

"Curly Rabbit" by Casey McGarr

"Squirrel Revenge" by Casey McGarr 

"Kafka's Pet" by Emily Broussard

"Long Elephant" by Cheryl Gross

"Polar Bear" by Cheryl Gross

"Small Giraffe" by Cheryl Gross

Eugenio Espinosa, "Tere con Repisa"

Eugenio Espinosa, "Abuelo, Marti, Papis"

Eugenio Espinosa, "Venados, Loma"

Lizzie Scott, "Mantaray"

Lizzie Scott, "Mantaray"

Brad Terhune's "Psychedelic Goats and Other Horned Creatures No. 2"

Brad_Terhune's "Psychedelic Goats and Other Horned Creatures No. 3"

Brad Terhune's "Psychedelic Goats and Other Horned Creatures No. 4"

Jodie Fink's "Avemhamo"

Jodie Fink's "Equusavem"

Works that defy categorization but deserve consideration are Beatrice Mady’s “Wandering Cow”, Milosz Koziej’s “Second Life of Emulous Polyphemus”, Casey McGarr’s broadly comic letterpress works, Emily Broussard’s deft painting of a roach, Cheryl Gross’s mixed media work, Eugenio Espinosa’s porcelain works, Lizzy Scott’s “Mantaray”, Brad Terhune’s pop inspired collages, and Jody Fink’s found object creatures which are just plain fun.

There are many more funny, profound, perplexing and well executed than those mentioned above, more than time permits. Anyone interested in animals, contemporary art, or are just in need of an uplift should go see the show in person. It’s well worth the trip. And bring your pet.

THE BIG SHOW: All Animals Welcome, featuring works by artists Alpana Mittal, Adriana Robertson, Alan Walker, Alejandro Rubin, Allen Strombosky, Andra Samelson, Andrea Geller, Anne Q McKeown, Anne Trauben, Beatrice M Mady, Bill Stamos, Brad Terhune, Bruno Nadalin, Bud McNichol, Caridad Kennedy, Carmen Recio, Caroline Burton, Casey McGarr, Cheryl Gross, Cheryl Hochberg, Chris Garcia, Eileen Ferara, Emily Broussard, Eugenio Espinosa, Gloria Adams, HJ Kleiber, Ibou Ndoye, Jane Dell, Jane Westrick, Jane Zweibel, Jodie Fink, Joe Lugara, Joshua Field, Joy Bush, Judith Witlin, Katharina Litchman, Katie Niewodowski, Kevin McCaffrey, Kim Wiseman, Laura Lou Levy, Laura Pawson, Linda Byrne, Linda Gottesfeld, Lizzie Scott, Lola Sandino Stanton, Lori Field, Lydia Viscardi, Lyubava Kroll, Marcia G. Yerman, Mary Beth King, Michael Lavorgna, Milosz Koziej, Mollie Thonneson, Nanette Reynolds Beachner, Pam Marchin, Rachel Aisenson, Rebecca Major, Robert Levy, Robert Zurer, Ry An, Sarah Walko, Scot Wittman, Stephen Krasner, Steven Barker, Tracy Kerdman, Vija Doks, Zewen Wang, continues until February 8 at Drawing Rooms at 926 Newark Avenue in Jersey City. A selection of works from the show can be viewed online at the Drawing Rooms website.

THE BIG SHOW: All Animals Welcome at Drawing Rooms, 12/14/19 - 2/8/20, is curated by Anne Trauben.

Bruce Halpin is an artist living in Jersey City. Read Bruce's bio here and view his artwork here.