Published in the Weekly Volcano, Sept. 29, 2016
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“The Salon – Blue Boy,” painting by William Turner, all photos courtesy Tacoma Community College
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The annual juried art exhibition at Tacoma
Community College is usually a sampling of much of the best art created by
South Sound artists. There is always admirable art to be seen, and this year is
no exception; there are works worthy of admiration by such artists as Lois
Beck, Susan Christian, Andrea L. Erickson, Fumiko Kimura, Becky Knold, Mary
McCann, C.J. Swanson, David Noah Giles and many more — 41 total.
On the downside there is far too much that is trite
and predictable — sweet little statuettes, nice but uninspired landscapes and
safe abstractions.
Lois Beck’s little monoprint “Voodoo.” comprises a
pair of concentric circles in soft, sandpapery, dull pink on a dark reddish field
intersected by linear black shapes. It is simple and direct, with a
sophisticated play of contrasting shapes and marks. It reminds me a lot of a
drawing by Robert Motherwell I once saw, but much softer and less gutsy than
any Motherwell.
Susan Christian’s “House Boat” is an abstract
painting on old sticks that have been glued together. It has the weathered look
of an old fence or barn or, befitting the title, a houseboat that has been left
out of the water for generations. The rugged texture and dull colors and one
little red splotch dead-center make for an attractive configuration of shapes
and colors. What more can you ask of a painting?
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| "Geo Communication," acrylic on canvas by CJ Swanson |
Marquita L. Hunt is showing two landscapes in acrylic
on canvas, one much better than the other. The best of these is the smaller
one, a thin, vertical painting of trees and a field of grass with a mountain in
the background. The larger one, with similar subject matter, is not as well
unified. The trees and grasses separate in this one like puzzle pieces that
don’t quite fit; whereas the smaller one, despite dividing the space into two
clearly separate areas, holds together as a single image. I like her autumnal
colors and Cezannesque choppy brushstrokes.
Mary McCann’s “Precambrian Collision” is a dramatic
mountain scene with low clouds, intense color and an enjoyable variety of
brushstrokes and scratches. I saw this one earlier this year in a show in Olympia.
I loved it then and still do, but in this setting it loses some I the power I
saw in the smaller show.
Had I been selecting show winners, I would have given
the top awards to David W. Murdach and William Turner.
Murdock is represented by two sculptural pieces, one
free-standing and one a wall-hanging piece. Both are — if I may coin a phrase —
steampunk rococo. Not a style I usually go for, but these pieces are funny,
inventive, outlandishly decorative, and beautifully crafted. “Scalia, the
Broccoli Man” is a relief sculpture of a floral pattern hanging on the wall and
surrounded by gilded columns and pipes, and there is a gavel and a little man
who looks to be made out of broccoli, with cartoonish white hands. His “Wall
Street” is a free-standing carousel with music box. Instead of horses, this
carousel has clowns, a pig, a bear, a silver frog, and Merlin the mythical
magician. It is even more elaborately decorative than “Scalia.” It’s like Jeff
Koons meets Gian
Lorenzo Bernini.
Turner’s
“The Salon – Blue Boy” also harkens back to rococo art, specifically
Gains borough’s “Blue Boy” with a bit of Vermeer thrown in for good measure. But
stylistically it is more like a Matisse interior scene, but grittier.
The Gallery at Tacoma Community College, noon to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, through Oct. 28, Tacoma Community
College, Building 5A, entrance off South 12th Street between Pearl and Mildred,
Tacoma, visitor parking in Lot G.
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