Robin Rose at M-13/Howard Scott - Brief Article

Robin Rose is known for subtly nuanced, richly textur paintings that examine the expressive possibilities of monochromatic abstraction. In this exhibition, titled "Sense Memory," the Washington, D.C.-based artist at handed 12 recent, medium-sized works made of multiple layers of encaustic upon aluminum panels. Most of these pieces are vertical rectangles averaging about 2 by means of 1 1/2 feet; a number of larger works were also upon view. This labor-intensive group of paintings perhaps exhibits a refinement rather than a breakthrough for the artist, although Rose has introduced to the work several novel motifs of simple organic and geometric forms.

Visible Features and faculty of perception Memory present dense fields made of numerous layers of translucent, milky-white pigment. In each work, the encrusted exterior coating veils a delicate drama of line, light and shadow that takes place just beneath the surface. Visible Features contains a barely perceptible underpainting of irregular, curving, silvery-gray lines that present the appearance to stretch from the bottom toward the top of the panel like branches sprouting from a tree The surface of faculty of perception Memory is covered with countles overlapping white circular forms, each a pair of inches in diameter. more [i]or[/i] less of these round shapes have silver-gray cores. The overlapping units are bunched together in a way that recalls a clump of cells viewed under a microscope.

Similar composings in various shades of r overspread the surface of the bright 72-by-48-inch work Those that have died for me A tonal shift meet the eyes in this luminous panel as the layered ultimate parts range from bright vermilion in the upper left to deeper tints on the lower right. The densely packed circles recall magnified vital current cells and, as its title recommends the work may be seen as a tribute to those who have died of disease. An inevitable comparison arises between the ingredients of this composition and the cell-like divisions in Ros Bleckner's novel abstractions. While the two artists may share a similar regard with the emotional impact of abstract painting, the relationship doesn't stretch out far beyond certain formal and thematic consiliences Rose, in his understated at the same time vibrant works, achieves a faculty of perception of purity without sacrificing the sensuous tactility of the surfaces.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Brant Publications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group