Current & upcoming shows in Seattle

Welcome to 2022!

I’m pleased that The Impossibility of Knowing (12) was selected for Gallery 110’s annual juried show, from over 1,200 entries reviewed by Emily Zimmerman, Director and Curator of Seattle Jacob Lawrence Gallery. That show opens on Thursday 3 February and runs through the month. You can also view the show and purchase works online at gallery110.com.

“The Impossibility of Knowing” refers to the strength of memory and imagination, compared to what is “real” or “observed.” In these paintings, a solid shape, figure, or silhouette interacts with its mirrored outline, against a shadowed background.

I’ve just completed the 30th painting in my series of monochrome paintings, which I call MBTW for the only two pigments used: Mars Black and Titanium White. Each canvas is 36” square, large enough to make a difference in an interior space, and enigmatic enough to reward multiple interpretations. I’ll display 12-14 of these in my first solo show at Gallery 110 in Seattle (110 Third Ave. S., in Pioneer Square), 3 March – 2 April. The show is titled “Embracing Black and White – and the infinite shades in between.”

The show opens on Thursday 3 March – I’ll be there for the evening reception, 5 – 8 PM. I’ll also be in the gallery from noon to 5:00 each Saturday in March. The gallery is open 12-5 PM Thursday-Saturday. I hope you can come by – I’m eager for you to see these pieces “in person.” I’ve printed 11”x 17” publicity posters, which feature MBTW26 at 11”x 11”. I’ll be happy to sign one for you at the gallery!

MBTW

My goal for some compositions is to reduce or eliminate a distinction between “object” and “background.”  In those compositions I try to give black, gray, and white near-equal precedence, so that one does not appear to be painted “over” the other. 

Before working on the canvas, I sketch each composition – roughly at first, to develop the balance of forms and values that I want, and then in exact scale and value.  Each painting is thoroughly planned.  However, there is a “discovery” stage, when I study the finished painting in each of the four orientations afforded by the square canvas.  I select the final orientation based on its psychological and interpretive impact. 

I want to maximize the impact of each painting, but I don’t want to determine the nature of that impact.  That’s why I’ve given each painting a simple numerical title.  You’re welcome to develop your own, personal subtitle for each painting – I have!

"MBTW"

The MBTW series is named for the only two pigments used in these paintings:  Mars Black and Titanium White. 

While many of these monochromatic paintings use a range of values from black through grays to white, most of the individual geometric shapes are solid, with no value gradation within them.  To reinforce the solidity of these forms, I minimize my visible brush work by thinning the acrylic paint slightly, using long strokes that extend over the entire form, using matte finishes, and applying matte acrylic varnish across the entire completed composition.

To increase the psychological tension in the compositions, I make sparing use of symmetry.  To reduce obvious interpretation of objects, I make very sparing use of shapes that might convey visual perspective.

Power to the viewer!

As a painter, I want to give you the power to see whatever images, symbols, or interactions you need to see in my compositions. 

This is why I decided to paint a set of 36” square canvases with a palette limited to black, white, and grays mixed from them.  Thus, the variables at play were value, shape, and the combination of shapes to form a composition.  From the beginning, I decided to limit my shapes to basic geometric forms:  square, rectangle, line (well, not true one-dimensional lines, which would be quite invisible), and circle.  This decision resulted from my 2020 reading and writing on Russian Suprematism as championed by Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935).