JULY 2008

Harmonious Convergence: Two Artists

Museo ItaloAmericano, Building C

The Museo ItaloAmericano makes a welcome return to contemporary painting when it showcases the work of two women artists this summer. "Two Artists: Harmonious Convergence" is the apt title for an exhibition of paintings by Marietta Patricia Leis and Paulette Long. The very different, yet philosophically similar pieces complement each other perfectly in this striking show.

“My paintings conjure an idea of the ‘edge,’” says Marietta Patricia Leis. Her intent is to lead “the viewer away from each canvas’s center, a kind of blank but potentially thriving screen, to something curious lurking at the edges of the work.”

At first glance, her canvases appear to be monochromes: squares of solid blue or purple. Yet upon deeper observation, the viewer is drawn into the pulsing blocks of color. Other colors appear — subtle tones of violet and heliotrope — and then patterning in the surface becomes apparent. In the end, one is aware of deep layers lying beneath the apparently placid surface of these paintings.

Under-workings also play an important part in the paintings of Paulette Long. She describes the work from her “Undercurrents” series as expressing “an energy that lies below the surface; a horizon with submerged activity expressed by a nervous line.”

Long’s paintings are landscapes, yet they are of no discernible location. Rather, they are landscapes of the mind where, she explains, “the horizon acts to contain the spontaneous.” The works combine unrestrained strokes of joyful color with darkly moody undertones taking the viewer beyond the surface to “deeper layers of meaning and memory.”



“Two Artists: Harmonious Convergence” is on display through August 17. For more information see Ongoing Programs and www.museoitaloamericano.org.

— Jovanne Reilly


Images:
Two Artists: Harmonious Convergence, Artists Paulette Long and Marietta Patricia Leis, Photo: David E. Vogel