Shifting Dimensions
Dynamic 3D forms, whether actual or suggested, animate sculpture and pictures by Anna Mavromatis, Alan Linder, Adam Bradley, and Stephen Maine and Christopher Miles
Stephen Maine,” P22-0309” (Pazo Fine Art)
PICTURES DUET WITH SCULPTURES, whether by the same or another artist, in four current local exhibitions. The results can be either harmonic or contrapuntal, and sometimes a bit of both.
Voids define the art of painter Stephen Maine and sculptor Christopher Miles, who are showing together in Pazo Fine Art's smartly curated "The Radical Middle." But the cavities in these works are not dark, or at least not entirely. Both artists employ bright hues, often arrayed in vigorous contrasts. Indeed, the clash of colors can be just as dramatic as the juxtaposition of solidity and emptiness.
Maine makes vertical abstractions whose burn-like patterns resemble the effects of solarization. These "residue paintings" are crafted through a sort of printmaking process. The New Yorker gouges plywood-and-Styrofoam matrixes, coats them with acrylic paint, and transfers the pigment to a canvas by pressing on the plate and even walking on it. This process is repeated several times, yielding pictures that feature multiple colors but are dominated by just two. Hot reds or yellows often play against cooler blues or greens. The effect is to fill the hollows in Maine's compositions with chromatic activity.
Christopher Miles, “Untitled (Blue Meanie for Clark Kent)” (Pazo Fine Art)
The nooks in Miles's ceramic sculptures are deeper than in Maine's paintings, and sometimes led to chasms that are too hidden to be illuminated at all. The Los Angeles artist's six pieces are in eccentric shapes that suggest miniature grottoes, internal organs, or corroded historic artifacts; one vaguely resembles a human torso, poised atop truncated thighs. The forms appear eroded by time, but are rejuvenated by vivid glazes. Like Maine, Miles covers surfaces with myriad hues, of which two dominate. Sometimes the contrasting color outlines the roughly circular portals that open visual paths into the sculptures's interiors.
Despite the two artists's disparate media and techniques, their works are remarkably complementary. Both Maine and Miles make pieces that are vivid, canny, and kinetic. Most strikingly, they endow the negative spaces in their art with just as much presence as the positive ones.
Alen Linder, "Man Positioning Sculpture" (Portico Gallery)
THE SLEEK HUMANOIDS THAT ALLEN LINDER SCULPTS, DRAWS, or paints appear as primordial as they are futuristic. The big-headed beings are streamlined, and are actually or seemingly metallic, and thus look something like androids from a sci-fi flick. But they also resemble statues from Pharaonic Egypt or Easter Island's hulking moai, which are estimated to be 500 to 750 years old.
As indicated by the title of Linder's Portico Gallery show, "Works on Paper and Intimate Sculptures," the 3D pieces are not large. Made of various materials, the tabletop-sized figurines mostly depict men, although a cast-acrylic dog is included in the cast of characters. The entities might be semi-abstracted statues come to life, as is suggested by "Man Positioning Sculpture," in which a stylized human nudges a Henry-Moore-like hulk that's only slightly less anthropomorphic than he is. While the human is more realistic than the sculpture, both share the simplified forms and stony hues of minimalist 20th-century statuary.
The painting features a bright red background, a rare note of brightness in these mostly metal- or rock-toned pieces. The artist is interested in "mystery, not knowing, and the elusive," according to his statement. So maybe the prominence of gray in his palette speaks to an affinity for places untouched by sunlight. Whether drawn or fabricated, Linder's creatures appear blocky and substantial. But perhaps they've been conjured from mists and shadows.
Anna Mavromatis, “Reading List (Banned Books)” (Washington Printmakers Gallery)
WORKING PRIMARILY WITH PAPER, Anna Mavromatis transforms words, photographs, and book covers by shaping them into the familiar contours of women's traditional clothing. The Greek-born Houston artist's "Dress Talk," at Washington Printmakers Gallery, does include a pair of layered but two-dimensional cyanotypes in which a woman's face peers from within intricate decorative motifs. All but one of the other pieces are folded into the bows, pleats, and frills of antique women's garments. (The exception arranges crumpled, singed, and tightly creased paper into the shape of a butterfly.)
The apparel-like assemblages are in subdued colors and browned in various ways to suggest age -- one is made mostly of stained coffee filters -- but they aren't simply homages to bygone fashion. Mavromatis considers herself a storyteller, and the old-fashioned dresses are often imbued with historical significance. The two largest gowns bear photos of suffragists, collaged into pocket histories of the struggle for the 19th amendment. One dress is covered in prints of old family photos in vintage picture frames, a mantelpiece of cherished images remade as a wearable gallery.
A more contemporary note is struck by a rumpled outfit decorated with small reproductions of the covers of banned books. There's also a dress stamped with such questions and answers as "why," "what," "yes," and "no." These simple words evoke the show's missing element: the girls and women who might have worn these clothes. They're not here, yet their presence is palpable. Mavromatis transforms inked, folded paper into memories of life.
Adam Bradley, “Galatea Returning” (Fred Schnider Gallery of Art)
EVOKING CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY, Adam Bradley assembles found wood and scrap metal into sculptures of goddesses and other mythological beings. These figures usually appear to be in motion, are often nearly the size of a adult human, and are generally exhibited outside, sometimes nestled into wooded locations. A few of Bradley's creations have moved indoors for "New Work," a Fred Schnider Gallery of Art show of pieces that are mostly smaller in scale.
Two of the artist's larger assemblages are included in the show, but they're flanked by smaller statues, all bronzes save for one fabricated of aluminum. These are not made of found materials, yet have a rough-edged, patchwork quality that emulates the look of the larger sculptures. Several of the bronzes depict storied mythological characters such as Galatea, a sea-nymph in ancient Greek lore, here seen seated on a gigantic fish. Other subjects are more whimsical. A man in a pilot getup runs with a toy plane in his hand, and a fury -- one of the sculptor's recurring characters -- is depicted as she dances nude with a coffeepot and a lunchbox.
What the figures share, regardless of size, is agitated or ecstatic movement. Bradley, who teaches at Catholic University, doesn't emulate the stately poses of classical Greco-Roman statues. His artwork "is a response to feelings of grief, anxiety, and desperation" in which figures are "pulled powerlessly into an uncontrollable emotional vortex," explains the sculptor's statement. The distress may not be overwhelming, but the propulsion is unmistakable. Bradley deftly transmutes metal and wood into sinew and sweat.
The Radical Middle: Stephen Maine and Christopher Miles
Through Jan. 11 at Pazo Fine Art, 1932 9th St. NW (entrance at 1917 9 1/2 St. NW). pazofineart.com. 571-315-5279.
Alan Linder: Works on Paper and Intimate Sculptures
Through Dec. 21 at Portico Gallery, 3807 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood. portico3807.com. 202-487-8458.
Anna Mavromatis: Dress Talk
Through Dec. 29 at Washington Printmakers Gallery, 1675 Wisconsin Ave NW. washingtonprintmakers.com. 202-669-1497.
Adam Bradley: New Work
Through Dec. 27 at Fred Schnider Gallery of Art, 888 N. Quincy St., Arlington. fredschnidergalleryofart.com. 703-841-9404.