The Weekly Volcano, July 18, 2013
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| "Shadow and Pink" pastel by Barbara Noonan |
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| "Streamer" metal sculpture by Ron Hinton |
The latest works by Ron Hinton (not to be confused with Ron Hinson) at Childhood’s End are more
dynamic than anything of his I’ve seen before. At least the wall-hanging
sculptures. The free-standing pieces on pedestals are more of the same stuff
I’ve seen from him I the past — angular abstract forms in a variety of metals
that depend for interest more on color and texture contrasts and etched surface
patterns than on form. With a few exceptions these are too fussy for my taste,
but the pieces hanging on the walls soar dramatically. They also feature
texture and color contrasts but depend more on form, which to my way of
thinking is what sculpture, particular abstract sculpture, should be all about.
They are sheets of copper, steel, bronze and other metals that wrap around each
other in shroud-like forms and seem to be about to take off like birds in
flight. Many are hung diagonally to enhance the sense of flight.
Hinton has about 25 pieces in the show including some small
metal jewelry items in a display case. The best by far are the wall pieces. One
of my favorites is “Finnel,” patinated bronze, copper and stainless steel. It
is a unified and simple form in tones of silver, green and deep blue. The best
of the standing works is “Tatlin’s Tower,” a tribute to Vladimir Tatlin’s
famous “Monument to the Third International.” Like “Finnel,” it is a simple and
self-contained form in beautifully muted colors.
Also showing are a number of nice little pastels of people and
homey scenes by Barbara Noonan. They’re pretty traditional and typical, but a
couple of them stand out. “Surf Play” is a dramatic picture of an old man at
play in the surf with his figure strategically located in the upper left corner
of the picture. “Summer Swing” is an unoccupied tire swing with cast shadow. It
has a Hooper-esque feeling of loneliness. Noonan’s best work is “Shadow and
Pink,” which is a bird’s eye view of a little girl in a pink dress tightrope
walking the crack in a sidewalk. The great thing about this one is the way if
comments on balance both in terms of placement of the figure in the
two-dimensional space of the format and how it illustrationally comments on the
girl’s precarious balance. This is a little gem of a painting.
There are also some funny and playful acrylics by Ann
Schreivogl. Her “Once Upon a Time” is a delightful picture of a girl with big
cartoon feet reading a book. One of the better paintings in the show is
Schreivogl’s “Glance.” It is a standing figure on a beach amidst a profusion of
elliptical dots that play in a lovely way with spatial peek-a-boo.
Also showing are nature studies in pastel by Randena Walsh.
[Childhood’s End
Gallery, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, through
Aug. 31, 222 Fourth Ave. W, Olympia,
360.943.3724]
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