Dodson on Jeffrey Stockberger at Gallery 222
By Brie Dodson
Work by Jeffrey Stockberger is currently on exhibition at Gallery 222 in Leesburg, Virginia. The works on exhibition include two main subject groupings: vegetables - a bunch of radishes, a head of bok choy, a Hubbard squash - and landscapes.
The landscapes at first appear to be about cows and field workers, but are really all about luscious color and a sense of composition that sneaks up on the viewer in a satisfying way.
Stockberger's handling of the vegetable paintings is masterful. Each subject appears against an "empty" background and foreground, but those "empty" spaces are filled with beautiful color and distance. The brushwork is chunky and delicious.
The paintings are much more compelling than the thumbnails on the gallery's website convey. For example, the radish painting is 28" x 26" (and the colors are extraordinary). The landscapes are on the order of around 4x5 feet. Most of the vegetables are painted slightly larger than life size, but not objectionably so.
There are also a couple of other gems out for viewing in the gallery's upstairs spaces. In there there are two very large horse paintings by Martha Cammack, perhaps 4x6 feet each. They are not about horses, at least to this viewer; they are about magnificent color, light and form. They are very fine paintings, and they do what truly good landscapes do - give that tug in the back of the throat.
Stockberger's show hangs through Sept. 29. The gallery is at 222 South King Street in Leesburg, open Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and by appointment. Informational contacts are 703-777-5498 or laaf@loudounacademy.org.
Sauna Lee Lange on the One Word Project
By Shauna Lee Lange
Kudos to J.T. Kirkland and the fine curating job he performed in his One Word Project which opened Friday night at the Arts Club of Washington. To explain the show simply, Kirkland assigned artists with a single word as a thematic launching point. The idea was to create a triangular dialogue for visual and language communication between artist, viewer, and work. Three works in the show that caught my attention were:
(a) Gregory Ferrand's "Experience." - the work was titled Judge Me Not (For I Judge Only You), acrylic on canvas, 22x28, 2006, (b) Marsha Stein's "Pride," is a drawing of St. Jerome, a haunting and technically gorgeous execution of charcoal cast drawing, 24x36, 1999, and (c) Gregg Chadwick's theme on "Responsibility," which drew the most evident enthusiasm.
Chadwick traveled from Santa Monica, CA to explain the meaning behind his Marine in a coffin surrounded by monks. Chadwick served in the Armed Forces and was deeply impressed that relatives of the deceased service member attended Friday night's opening. Chadwick said that his own father was a Marine, and as a son, he felt he had the responsibility to paint his own military experience. As a self-professed Buddhist, Chadwick eloquently spoke about how responsibility is a common thread among all people and what it meant to him to participate in the show. He is pictured here in front of his work.
Honorable mention for layered meaning in story telling has to go to the Right Reverend James W. Bailey of Reston, Virginia for his burnt photo montage/collage of a church. Bailey's original explanation of meaning and his updated revisionist explanation are fascinating reading. One really does come away understanding that in New Orleans, A.K. (after Katrina), all is not okay.
The show runs to September 29th. More than 30 artists are featured, including Andrew Krieger's sculpture on Imagination, Baltimore's Rosetta DeBerardinis' 2007 work on Fluid , Alexandra Silverthorne's print on Forgotten, Angela Kleis' Hatteras Lighthouse silver gelatin print, and James Coleman's mixed media on canvas, seno utero matriz.
The Arts Club of Washington reminds us that their third floor studio is open Tuesday through Saturday, with free arts classes open to the public every Saturday.
By Shauna Lee Lange
Kudos to J.T. Kirkland and the fine curating job he performed in his One Word Project which opened Friday night at the Arts Club of Washington. To explain the show simply, Kirkland assigned artists with a single word as a thematic launching point. The idea was to create a triangular dialogue for visual and language communication between artist, viewer, and work. Three works in the show that caught my attention were:
(a) Gregory Ferrand's "Experience." - the work was titled Judge Me Not (For I Judge Only You), acrylic on canvas, 22x28, 2006, (b) Marsha Stein's "Pride," is a drawing of St. Jerome, a haunting and technically gorgeous execution of charcoal cast drawing, 24x36, 1999, and (c) Gregg Chadwick's theme on "Responsibility," which drew the most evident enthusiasm.
Chadwick traveled from Santa Monica, CA to explain the meaning behind his Marine in a coffin surrounded by monks. Chadwick served in the Armed Forces and was deeply impressed that relatives of the deceased service member attended Friday night's opening. Chadwick said that his own father was a Marine, and as a son, he felt he had the responsibility to paint his own military experience. As a self-professed Buddhist, Chadwick eloquently spoke about how responsibility is a common thread among all people and what it meant to him to participate in the show. He is pictured here in front of his work. Honorable mention for layered meaning in story telling has to go to the Right Reverend James W. Bailey of Reston, Virginia for his burnt photo montage/collage of a church. Bailey's original explanation of meaning and his updated revisionist explanation are fascinating reading. One really does come away understanding that in New Orleans, A.K. (after Katrina), all is not okay.
The show runs to September 29th. More than 30 artists are featured, including Andrew Krieger's sculpture on Imagination, Baltimore's Rosetta DeBerardinis' 2007 work on Fluid , Alexandra Silverthorne's print on Forgotten, Angela Kleis' Hatteras Lighthouse silver gelatin print, and James Coleman's mixed media on canvas, seno utero matriz.
The Arts Club of Washington reminds us that their third floor studio is open Tuesday through Saturday, with free arts classes open to the public every Saturday.