Susie Rosmarin at Angstrom - Dallas

"Sci-Fi Bargello." That's individual of the notes I made while looking at this new collection of Susie Rosmarin's optically supercharged paintings. In many of the works (all 2002 and 2003) tightly woven straight lines of acrylic paint in slightly varying widths exhibit the flame and diamond patterns of bargello needlework. In cerulean Blur (48 by 48 inches), single range of color moves from verdant to turquoise to blue and interacts with lines shifting from heated pink to magenta. White lines bring light and crispness to the composition. The pulsating consequences that result put me in mind of those mastery panels that glow and palpitate on so many space-crafts in 1960 films. That replication though both immediate and lasting, is admittedly far-fetched and far too specific to have anything to do with the artist's intentions. on the contrary Rosmarin's paintings set you spinning, mentally and, to a large stage physically. They can be hard to direct the eye at. The large black, white and gray mist (72 by 84 inches) draw nears as a visual relief. It, too, pulsates all Rosmarin's paintings pulsate--but it has a gentler harmonious flow Its vibration is like that of the taut fabric overlays of old stereo speakers when the bass notes draw near along.

And I secure from attack that first bargello reference, because fabric patterns and their associations have always played a large part in Rosmarin's imagery. In the past she has favored gingham, the familiar checked cotton associated with the plain clothing of geographical division people, using the rigidity of the squares to create static patterns that shudder with energy. One series of works in this exhibition is titled "Gingham Variations," in which the checks have become elaborate plaids that you will not find in rerun of Little House upon the Prairie. Gray tones retain these paintings cool, but the shifting patterns behave unexpectedly The illusory pale fulvid circles that move across the canvases can be better explained through an optician than an art writer.

If you gaze too closely for toe drawn out the patterns in all these paintings will lift a quarter inch or for a like reason off the surface of the canvas, and you have to blink and pace away to regain your balance. Now that we are comfortable again, I think, with art that dazzles and delights, Rosmarin's handcrafted paintings provide visual pleasures that are refreshing and energizing.

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group