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All art is local
Sweeney and Martenson at Gross McCleaf
"Paintings of Maine," by Douglas Martenson, and "New Pastels" by Joseph Sweeney, two new shows now on display at Gross McCleaf Gallery, demonstrate the ways in which a particular locality can inspire artists.
Martenson's show is a mixed presentation of pure landscape paintings, homey sunlit interiors and a pair of studies of the exterior of a wooden Victorian house (which I assume contains the interiors depicted). Poetry of place is an evanescent thing. Some artists, like Andrew Wyeth, have a way with emptiness, so that in the absence of people, emptiness itself becomes the character. Martenson possesses this knack to a degree, although his work is more earthbound than Wyeth's and reminds me more of Edward Hopper's interiors, minus Hopper's hollow-eyed people. Martenson certainly seems fond of this house and its interiors, whereas he seems a bit divorced from the landscapes, which are professionally rendered views.
Despite its nondescript title, Sweeney's "New Pastels" is a real capital-p Philadelphia show. All of his pieces are studies of sculling. This sport, so greatly loved by a certain sector of Philadelphians, and enjoying a place in our civic art going back to Thomas Eakins, is here given its due by Sweeney. His large pastels are suffused with sunlight and a sense of open air. Unlike Martenson's more academic work, Sweeney's pastels are very much in the Impressionist tradition, and Two Single Shells, with its bravura display of sunlight playing upon the water, is an especially lovely work.
Martenson's show is a mixed presentation of pure landscape paintings, homey sunlit interiors and a pair of studies of the exterior of a wooden Victorian house (which I assume contains the interiors depicted). Poetry of place is an evanescent thing. Some artists, like Andrew Wyeth, have a way with emptiness, so that in the absence of people, emptiness itself becomes the character. Martenson possesses this knack to a degree, although his work is more earthbound than Wyeth's and reminds me more of Edward Hopper's interiors, minus Hopper's hollow-eyed people. Martenson certainly seems fond of this house and its interiors, whereas he seems a bit divorced from the landscapes, which are professionally rendered views.
Despite its nondescript title, Sweeney's "New Pastels" is a real capital-p Philadelphia show. All of his pieces are studies of sculling. This sport, so greatly loved by a certain sector of Philadelphians, and enjoying a place in our civic art going back to Thomas Eakins, is here given its due by Sweeney. His large pastels are suffused with sunlight and a sense of open air. Unlike Martenson's more academic work, Sweeney's pastels are very much in the Impressionist tradition, and Two Single Shells, with its bravura display of sunlight playing upon the water, is an especially lovely work.
What, When, Where
“Paintings of Maine†by Douglas Martenson, and “New Pastels,†by Joseph Sweeney. Through September 16, 2009 at Gross McCleaf Gallery,127 South 16th Street. (215) 665-8138 or www.grossmccleaf.com.
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