LOUISE SLOANE PAINTINGS
IN MAJOR EXHIBITION
AT SPANIERMAN GALLERY
In a show covering a career that began in the early 1970s, Spanierman Gallery offers a one-woman show of the dazzling paintings of Louise Sloane
The 18 paintings in the show demonstrate Sloane’s profound awareness of how the materials used in her artworks create a surface tension that cannot help but impact the mood of the space they occupy.
It is interesting to see Sloane’s progress from the grey tones of her early works to the deep textured earth tones dominating the paintings completed in the 1980s and 1990s.
Her more recent works rely on vibrant bright colors which are startling in their strength.
This viewer was most taken with one painting, “Symbols Before My Eyes,” which reminds one of Moroccan kilim rug patterns, or the details of west African shade shutters, both of which are laden with detailed symbols of the communities in which they are made.
Sloane is a master of her craft, using oil and paraffin or beeswax to build up complex surfaces which invite a viewer to pay closer attention to the complexity of the surface texture to find the deeper meaning within.
ELENA SISTO ’TRICKY’ SHOW
AT BOOKSTEIN PROJECTS
Big isn’t better. The new Elena Sisto show at Bookstein Projects is a treat with small works which encompass big ideas.
The show consists of 27 works in which women become gods and heroes in scenes based on classical myths. The artist titled the show “Trickster Makes This World”, referencing a book of that title by Lewis Hyde. That work cites the transition of Greek society from a gift society to a commercial society.
Each painting tells a story reflecting this transition. The images are deceptively simple, mostly with a black and white cartoon-like motif.
Sisto says the paintings have layers of meaning, hence the images can play tricks with the viewer’s senses. “I like the paintings to be open to projection, and to mean something different each time you look at them,” she explains.
It is a show that may require a second or even a third visit to state to unravel the levels of meaning contained in these paintings.
The Sisto show is running from September 12 through October 25. For further information click here to visit the Bookstein Projects site.