AUTHOR: ARTSY CHOW ROAMER

Uncloaked & Thoughts Left Unspoken

EXHIBITIONS AT THOMAS DEANS FINE ART

I had planned on going to an opening at a friend’s gallery but life happened. So it took some time to get over for a “cuppa” and a look at two wonderful exhibitions.

As you know from previous blogs, when I am feeling the need for some good tea, a nice chat and all things Brit, I head over to Thomas Deans Fine Art. I’d heard an artist I have known for years, Elyse Defoor, was doing an immersive installation in the back gallery and the paintings of two British artists were on view as well.

Thoughts Left Unspoken

ENGLISH ARTIST CHARLIE BLUETT

I was already familiar with Charlie’s work and am an avid admirer. I was anxious to see what his latest pieces were like and they did not disappoint.

Charlie starts his works with clean, bright white gessoed canvasses and than begins a very ethereal layering process that allows you to see through each colored square as he lays them down one atop the other.

I studied the Collected Sea Glass and Found Along the Shore pieces and felt myself transported. I could imagine his long walks by the water looking for the coveted pieces of translucent glass he had so clearly conveyed on the canvas in an abstracted display of a beach.

Having grown up with yearly vacations on the coasts of Florida I felt returned to my childhood memories. The simple delight of such discoveries on my own forages and the joy I felt in the quiet oneness of my own thoughts; the sounds and smell of the sea. Art can do that if you let it.

The titles of the pieces give you a clear indication of the artists thoughts during the creation process. Changes in his color palette indicate intention as well . As you move from piece to piece, there is a change in energy by the excessive layering of Rush Hour or the assemblage of The Structures; while just the change in color of LIfe Amongst the Blooms is suggestive of an Easter flower bouquet.

Charlie’s landscapes are just as successful as the more abstract layered pieces with hints of long quiet stretches of misty land in early morning/evening colors. There is a surprising soft feminine weight to each one that begs the perfect home in which to hang.

ENGLISH ARTIST DAVID BRAYNE R.W.S.

Moving on to the work of artist David Brayne with the swoosh title at the end of his name (stands for Royal Watercolor Society and is an honor bestowed on only the best artists working in water based media).

Thomas made the keen observation that hanging these small treasures in between the large pieces of Charlie’s would be a sorta brilliant kind of move.

Most of the works are 11 x 14 or smaller yet they pack a much bigger punch. Brayne selects his subjects with care and renders them in quiet repose. Whether it is a portrait, a landscape or still life there is a lushness to the brush strokes and a beautiful sense of color, tone and layering.

Many of the portraits have no clear identity to the face but they make you recall someone you might be reminded of; a sense of knowing.

There is a rendering of every day tasks and items that suggest intimacy-another kind of knowing. Sunday Morning hints at an unwillingness to leave bed while reading a favored book. Tall Window suggests catching up with an old friend. Yellow Table is all about the love of a favorite corner and color.

I kept traveling from one piece to the next thinking there couldn’t be a better one only to find it just around the corner; like a treasure hunt. Again, there is a surprising feminine feel to the paintings. The pieces don’t require glass or a big fancy frame; a simple everyday one will do nicely.

Uncloaked

LOCAL ARTIST ELYSE DEFOOR

I have known Elyse Defoor for many years from a previous life. She is a small bundle of energy with an infectious laugh and an arty dress style that suggests a younger age. At some point in her career, people started giving her their wedding dresses.

Women who couldn’t figure out what else to do with them really. They either didn’t have children or they couldn’t part with them in a more traditional fashion such as a drop off at a consignment or thrift store.

There is intimacy in the choice of what to wear on the day you commit to sharing your life with another person. She did a beautiful book based on her photography and the stories behind these dresses from each of the women who gave them to her.

This installation, Uncloaked, unites the dresses and three other bodies of work which explore themes of memory, self-discovery, and growth from a female perspective. Defoor asks: “What is revealed when the physical is unveiled?” Through the discovery and uncloaking of mysteries and through feminine force, she seeks the release of basic truths.

The Exuvia installation explores femininity through the use of mixed media elements depicting every day items of clothing such as belts and dresses. The stark black, white and gray of the presentation is both beautiful and powerful but also a bit haunting.

I found myself returning to one of these pieces to study it in more detail. When moving away I kept catching a face out of the corner of my eye that would disappear when I turned my head to look straight on. An odd effect; a feeling of being watched and not knowing by whom.

Color doesn’t seem to be a necessary component to the understanding of the femininity. The wedding dresses all sorta say white with texture and style becoming more important to the story. Of course intimate details behind each dress might change how you perceive it as well.

Exposed 3 & 4 are two of the drawings on show that utilize Elyse’s capability to capture the female form or an article of clothing through energetic mark making. Again, utilizing stark black and white, they speak to the strength and power of simple.

Recurring studies of the naked body in repose are from the All of Us Alone series. Emergence could be a landscape instead of a body while Ode to Tom resides beautifully on a black wall and Tabasco is our only view of any color in this installation. Moving from a drawing, to a painting to a die cut speaks ever more powerfully to feminine force.

CONCLUSION

While Thomas Deans says these are two contrasting exhibitions, I felt there was an unexpected unifying theme that was helped by the presentation. The edges and light color palettes of the large abstracts of Bluett were softened by the quiet smallness of the Brayne pieces; an example of how abstract and modern can work well with realism and more traditional types of art.

Both styles of paintings had distinct feminine qualities which played well off of Elyse’s installation even with her stark black and white presentations. You still have another ten days or so to get a peek at this work. Don’t miss the opportunity!

If you like what you read, you might also enjoy reading more blogs under Artful Ideal. Hey, don’t be a stranger! Let me hear from you about anything artsy that might be on your mind OK? Until next time…

Cheers,

ArtsyChowRoamer

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