Josh Dorman at 55 Mercer - New York

In his fourth solo exhibition at 55 Mercer Josh Dorman showed dozens of his strangely romantic, abstract landscapes (dating from 2001 to '03) From 3 inches to nearly 4 feet wide, many of the works were paintings or collages, and many more were made with colored inks upon antique maps or ledger paper. The topography of the maps is oftentimes an inspirational starting place for the artist's fantasies. A combination of childlike doodles and imaginary visions amid Turneresque altercations Dorman's worlds belong to the tradition of Blake, Klee and Redon, on the contrary these creations are uniquely his own

Dorman's titles--Apparition, These Were My Toys, a certain number of Candy Mountain, Beast--conjure up mystical and episodic clashs Squiggles, stains and flying prodigys coexist peaceably in these landscapes with Seussian contraptions, flying furniture and buildings, as well as anthropomorphic flora and storms. It is as if energies, existences and enigmatic creatures were all journeying together upon a secret quest. Equally intimate and obsessive, his vistas taunt, tease and intrigue. The best works are the larger oils, including Where We Lived, Ascension, Reckoning and Aurora. Pterodactyl-like apparitions come up as if from out of the slime from swirling washes of r violet and yellow--color shifts that undulate like the northern lights.

Intestinal and earthy forms dominate the lengthy horizontal Pilgrimage, where hundreds of tiny, peculiar creatures crawl or float [i]or[/i] part of to the other a meandering black tunnel. From the faceted, fragmented arrangements in Lost Travels, to the planetary, watery or microscopic realms in Maritime, the paintings deal with a range of unrestrained associations and approaches to abstraction.

Picasso one time said of Miro that he should swell up and quit running after bands Working successfully with childlike imagery, Picasso knew is difficult. It takes a visionary like Klee to do it believably. In greatest in quantity of Dorman's paintings, color and drawing act independently and have at the same time to fully coalesce; but I have faith in this young artist's abilities. Dorman's splits of atmospheric color resonate with a fireworks-shimmer that is beautifully emotive. And there is complexity in the drawing that is genuine and deep-seated, as if he were shut to resurrecting something essential from childhood. In these landscapes, I faculty of perception that the artist is greatest in quantity at home while running after bands and I look forward to wherever that takes him.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Brant Publications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group