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Recent Reviews:
Simply
Striking
In texture-rich show, objects take on greater dimension
April
19, 2009
By Jacqueline Hall
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In
the hands of Lowell Tolstedt and Ray Kleinlein, the simple and ordinary
become iconic. Both artists, with exhibits in Keny Galleries, approach
their favorite subjects with striking representational styles but
different mediums and perspectives.
Tolstedt,
who favors fruit and flowers, works in graphite; colored pencils; and,
occasionally, metal point. Kleinlein, who depicts domestic items, works
exclusively in oil.
Tolstedt,
a professor emeritus at the Columbus College of Art & Design, is a
master draftsman who creates images on a small scale. The largest in this
show, Glass Bowl With Berries, is only 15 by 21 inches. Despite their
size, the drawings have amazing presence, easily holding their own with
larger works.
Three
pieces are created in silverpoint or gold metal point. The 29 other
drawings are executed with multiple layers of colored pencils, achieving
superb effects of light and texture.
The
textural differences among flower, fruit and shiny foil in Still Life:
Strawberry and Pansy are fantastic.
Far
more complex as an arrangement is Composition in Orange and Gray, in which
apricots rest on a sheet of crinkled foil. The foil's wrinkles reflect not
only the velvety skin of the fruit but also lights and shadows. The
combination is an intriguing one of representational fruit and abstract
patterns of light and reflection.
Most
often, Tolstedt places his subjects in undefined space. But in Still Life
With Foil Wrapped Pear, the fruit stands in front of a dark background and
on a lighter surface, creating a limited space that gives the subject an
unusual volumetric presence.
A
volumetric quality is one of the striking aspects of Kleinlein's
paintings.
His
images tend to fill the surface of the canvas, even extending around the
unframed edges. The painting is projected into a viewer's space, achieving
a sculptural effect.
In
Wrapped Bottles, the folds in the foil around the bottles seem to project
from the painted surface while the bottles seem to stand away from the
background on the edge of a shelf.
Kleinlein's
imagery has a lush, sensuous quality far different from the contemplative
tone in Tolstedt's drawings. Kleinlein's pillows and stacked bath towels,
especially White Pillow and Three White Towels, challenge viewers to pick
them up, plump them and bury their faces in them.
Red
Pillow, however, seems more interested in playing with light and texture.
In some areas of the satiny surface, the artist allows his brushwork and
unusual mix of colors to create a rich, luminous quality.
Illustration: Photo
(1) Still Life: Strawberry and Pansy by Lowell Tolstedt (2) Still Life
With Foil Wrapped Pear by Lowell Tolstedt (3) Wrapped Bottles by Ray
Kleinlein |
