Art Reviews: Sculpture show pleases, puzzles

Web Extras: Marketplace, Bridal, Headlines by Email, Postcards

Art Reviews: Sculpture show pleases, puzzles

Saturday, October 17, 1998

By Mary Thomas, Post-Gazette Arts Writer

Sculpture is about the three-dimensional and that is brought home in an energized Society of Sculptors exhibition that flows through the Foreland Street Studio, North Side, like conversation at a lively party.

Sculptor and juror Richard Hunt, formerly of Pittsburgh and now living in Chicago, open-mindedly selected 27 works from an eclectic body of 54 entries that ranged widely in attitude and material. The resultant show is admirably unpredictable and edgy, with works to both please and confound traditionalists, as well as rebels. The society nurtures such mixing by inviting less experienced artists to compete with the more established.

Newcomer Aaron Connelly, a taxidermist, has lovingly and realistically rendered a fine, life-sized trotting "Red Fox" in bronze. Larry Kozak reveals seemingly impossible twists of grain in the angled oak body of "Spirit Dancer," while Thaddeus Mosley's cherrywood "Standing Streams" is all flowing grace. The pensive honesty of a "Self-portrait" in sycamore by Philip Mendlow makes it provocative.

There are vestiges of "home" in Anne Wolf's forceful "Linkages," but a troubling metamorphosis has taken place. Buttons, keys and toys have been absorbed into crusty chains that snake away from the seat of an unsteadily elevated chair as though relegated to a past, the happy memory of which has dimmed with age and experience.

Where there's sculpture, of late, there are Indiana University of Pennsylvania students, and several of them enliven this exhibition with fresh notions of form and material. Among these, Carl Bean's gangly "Emperor, Genus II" has unwieldy power; "Entrapment II" by Jill Feagley is perilous; Bryan Lauch's "Tencile" has bite; and "Monument to Sleep" by Wade Kramm is engagingly enigmatic.

At 518 Foreland St. through Oct. 30.

The fall arts season has been a commendably busy one and shows no signs of slowing down; these four exhibitions run through the end of the month:

Linda Wallen is at Bloomfield Artworks, 4523 Liberty Ave., with well-crafted, familiar scenes from Provence, four sparkling panels of sunflowers and a large, commissioned dual portrait-in-progress (she's working at the gallery). She shares space with daughter Casey Droege who at 16 already has a mean read on the human figure, nicely developed in monoprints.

Studio Z Gallery, 1415 E. Carson St., South Side, is showing "Recent Works" by Judy Musser. Many of the paintings and collages were inspired by travels in Mexico and they glow with light, color and mystery. "Wall Pattern" I and II, for example, are practically luminescent. Musser layers and combines paint and found materials with intensity but without being overwhelming, as in "Ascent," which is strengthened by its restrained energy. "Summer's End" has tropical lushness; it's a blossoming that is more than floral and says "Mexico" in ways that the obvious symbols can't.

Two exhibitions address Jewish heritage in very different ways. Canadian artist Judy Singer's "Inspired by the Writings," is at the Jewish Community Center, 5738 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill. Her large paintings are abstracted interpretations of hymns, prayers and other sacred texts, and they exude a joy that suggests a transcendent state. Thinly applied paint, almost a wash in places, balances the energy of large vibrant areas of color.

"Ketubot: A National Exhibit of Modern Jewish Marriage Documents" by 26 artists is at Rodef Shalom Temple, 4905 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. These documents feature exquisite calligraphy and a number of decorative styles, including traditional, paper cut-outs, handmade paper and collage. Traditionally this was the document that protected the economic rights of the wife in a Jewish marriage and by form it resembles an elaborate marriage certificate. An especially elegant page by Ardyn Halter calls to mind illuminated manuscripts.