Review of ‘Go Figure’ at Art Center Morro Bay
Oil painting by Bodil Bacciarini of Mark
An exhibit review by President of the Morro Bay Art Association, Patricia Newman
—Go Figure, the exhibit now featured at Art Center Morro Bay, embodies the theme found in this quote from the Elizabethan poet. What might seem a simple idea is powerful. Catching my eye in the upstairs gallery as I perused a display of handmade books, the theme for the show emerged. I looked at the multiplicity of figurative images in one of Ardella Swanburg’s handmade books and this quote smacked me upside the head. Yes, the show is an affirmation of the embodied soul. One of Swanburg’s unique books reflected fifty years of her life drawing experience. By extension, through this exhibit the artists reveal themselves: always original, always insightful, and always challenging. Artists, by celebrating the human form, may themselves be observed through the embodied explorations they present to the viewer, offering up glimpses into their own soulful, lovely inner selves.
Exquisite portraiture, like the delicate charcoal “Amber,” by Bodil Bacciarini, is a prominent focus throughout the gallery. The portraits light up the space with bold intelligence and sometimes mirthful curiosity. The figure studies reflect attitudes and feelings like grief and joy. They show humanity of all ages and cultures. Two photographs can act as an example of the show’s scope: a young boy on a pony in color captures the fresh fun of youth, while the black and white photograph, Gentle Man, depicts an elderly Asian man with homemade crutch and the biggest smile I have seen. Wide ranges of emotion and form might be expected in such a show and Go Figure does not disappoint.
But what stood out for me was the wide range of use of media in the primarily two-dimensional show. Diversity of form, age and mood might be expected. But what blew me away was the positive/ negative happy exuberance of the female nude depicted in the medium of coffee grounds applied to white canvas. It s effect was rather like a stencil or a vividly contrasted x-ray of female, joyful energy. Very close by was a piece in another wildly unusual medium-surf wax! That portrait, “Kelly”, by Rick Thomas was a fluid embodiment of insight and thought. It stays with me.
Another surprise was in the use of traditional media in surprising ways, like the usually fluid charcoal used in a gentle figure study (Natalie by Larry Armstrong) that was also a study in angularity and solidity. A color intaglio etching by Robert Norton, “It is Finished,” used all the complexity of a traditional medium to shock the viewer to stare at the moment of Christ’s death on the Cross. I found this piece to be powerful because the artist chose an incredibly complex and time-consuming technique to capture a moment and thus, in its complexity and depth, rendered a moment in time an eternal moment. You may find many other favorites of your own in the show. This art truly speaks to and of the human condition.
I am reminded of a comment about some of Rembrandt’s later portraits. Speaking of one of Rembrandt’s portraits of a young girl, art historian Michael Kitson notices a new objectivity in Rembrandt’s portrayal of the figure. “He does not seek to dramatize it, caricature it or make it appear in motion, but is content to represent it for its own sake.” Go Figure does the same. If you need a lift, see this show.
Sue Nash, PhD.
Sue Nash is an artist who shows her work at Hana Coast Gallery, Hana, Maui and Morro Bay Art Center. She taught art appreciation at Cuesta College and lives in Cambria with her husband and mother. She delights in learning new ways to express her art and is currently learning, Drawing and Painting in the Style of the Old Masters, from artist-teacher Jason Mayr at the Morro Bay Art Center. She enjoys writing about art and artists. Visit www.artcentermorrobay.org
