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A visual poet
Carlo Russo at F.A.N. Gallery
The famous phrase of the 19th-Century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins—"the achieve of, the mastery of the thing"— seems almost to have been coined with Russo in mind. I admire Russo's firm grasp of technique. Most of his current show at the F.A.N. Gallery consists of still life painting, but it's a certain type of still life in which the precision of the rending is shot through with visual poetry.
For instance, The Blue Dress is as much about earthenware pots as it is about the titular garment-- yet it's the garment, carelessly tossed atop a highly polished table on which the pots sit, that electrifies the entire composition, drawing your eyes to it.
A similar dynamic is at work in Somnus #2, in which a puffy, bright red pillow battles for visual supremacy with an immaculately rendered stainless steel tumbler.
Gourds, Orientaliste and Mortars and Tamarind take us into the realm of Orientalia. For myself, I enjoy the theatrical nature of these arrangements, with their peeling green shutters and jars straight from The Arabian Nights.
On the other hand, I've never been that impressed by Russo's figure studies. The big one in this show, The Red Kimono, is subtitled "Homage to Whistler." I find it closer to Sargent myself. It's all too solid, with nothing of the evanescent gracefulness of Whistler's Tangara-inspired paintings.
This show also includes several studies of birds and several pure landscapes. Of these, I found Catskills Rainstorm, a simple but effective image, most interesting. The show taken as a whole is well worth seeing.
For instance, The Blue Dress is as much about earthenware pots as it is about the titular garment-- yet it's the garment, carelessly tossed atop a highly polished table on which the pots sit, that electrifies the entire composition, drawing your eyes to it.
A similar dynamic is at work in Somnus #2, in which a puffy, bright red pillow battles for visual supremacy with an immaculately rendered stainless steel tumbler.
Gourds, Orientaliste and Mortars and Tamarind take us into the realm of Orientalia. For myself, I enjoy the theatrical nature of these arrangements, with their peeling green shutters and jars straight from The Arabian Nights.
On the other hand, I've never been that impressed by Russo's figure studies. The big one in this show, The Red Kimono, is subtitled "Homage to Whistler." I find it closer to Sargent myself. It's all too solid, with nothing of the evanescent gracefulness of Whistler's Tangara-inspired paintings.
This show also includes several studies of birds and several pure landscapes. Of these, I found Catskills Rainstorm, a simple but effective image, most interesting. The show taken as a whole is well worth seeing.
What, When, Where
Carlo Russo: "Recent Paintings." Though May 26, 2012 at F.A.N. Gallery, 221 Arch St. (215) 922-5155 or www.thefangallery.com.
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