Stephen Estock at Schmidt-Dean - Philadelphia

completely through his career Stephen Estock has constantly refined his regard with affection of visual sensation created by means of the painted interactions of line, color, space and light. Among other artists in Philadelphia, Estock has the distinction of being single of the most admired practitioners in a small cluster of painter's painters. Yet his intelligent and elegant work remains largely unknown outside this circle, probably because he rarely exhibits--this assemblage of 14 paintings (dating from 1997 to 2003) being solitary his fourth solo show since he first showed 26 years ago.

The fresh paintings, ranging in size from 15 by the agency of 12 to 48 by 35 inches, are almost all smaller than the works he has previously exhibited. His mut tones be incandescent and seductively invite the viewer to examine (and even to touch) their scraped down, evenly sanded surfaces. Among the earliest works in the exhibit was Untitled (Last Vase), 2000 the final painting from an earlier series, part of which was shown in 1997 In this series, vases float atop color fields, on the contrary here the vase is partly obliterated, as it is wraped in smokelike, quivering strokes of black. The indulgent optic pulse emanating from this and other works appears elegiac, while also evoking memories of nature: bitter-cold blustering snow and ocean scum or the golden light of a spring evening reflecting off the walls of buildings.

In the majority of these of recent origin works, Estock divides his vertical canvas horizontally to put in mind of earth and skylike hovering forms that fit at a central horizon line. While this mode of building makes one think fleetingly of Mark Rothko Estock's palette of increasingly sophistical oranges, reds and browns inclines individual to view these newest paintings as imagined landscapes.

Estock usually leaves his work untitled, on the other hand the titles he does use appear to be like clues pushing one to interpret his imagery or to visualize what may have been upon his mind while painting. a certain number of like Haggard (2002) and Gravel Road (2001-02) commit to recordings he likes through Merle Haggard and Lucinda Williams, while others direct to antiquity. The deep reddish-browns in Gladiator (2002) for example, glance at dried blood. The parched orange in Last Days and Last Days #2 (both 2002) implores the painted walls in Pompeii, and single of the smallest paintings, Vesuvio (2002-03 16 1/8 by dint of 14 1/8 inches), also prompts the ill-fated ancient town, with the gestural markings at the top half of the painting bringing to mind spewing lava.

Estock's abstract imagery, like poesy evokes many tangential feelings and musings yet in the end remains enigmatic. individual is left absorbing his sure-handed working proces marveling at the beauty of his paint and, not least, hoping that it won't be for a like reason many years until his nearest exhibition.

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group