Sunblind Splash, 2013, acrylic and oil on canvas
A hot sky absolutely fries the canvas over Sunblind Splash, a painterly aggregate of scumbling, scraping, brushwork and, well...splashes. There's so much activity in paintings such as this one that you end up reading them like a book, scanning the surface
for tension and psychology, spatial disparity and subversions in tone,
perspective, distance. An
amalgam of cutaways, jump cuts, perspectival structures and glorious leaps of
faith, Huey's sumptuous brush and knife work combines with aspects of collage to startling affect.
In
many of these works, the pool functions like a proscenium stage with
small dramas played in it, around it, and in spite of it. Huey
understands theatricality, and she lays down her scenes with powerful
vistas in two and three-point perspective. The pools, which lay
foreground or midground, variously stand or recede, bouncing in between
front and back, and they usually possess a sense of perspective that grounds the entire composition. Like a generous lead act, they function as gemstones, inviting the peripheral action to take center stage in spite of, or perhaps because of, their glint.
Violet Moonrise, 2013, acrylic and oil on wood
Huey's cavorting tourists are slathers of thick brush work defined by deep fleshy strokes, as if the artist is channelling the late great Richard Diebenkorn. Gorgeous.
In Violet Moonrise (above) the open umbrella tipped at mid-ground doubles as a slice of that ubiquitous and mouthwatering Florida orange and all the while, a purple sky hangs in the distance. It's exhilarating.
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Private Pool Party, 2013, oil on linen
Huey
lives in Brooklyn, where painting has recently been reinvented. She
studied psychology at George Washington University, and by all accounts
has maintained an lifelong interest in the science of the mind.
In Private Pool Party,
plinths and partial walls rise from the poolside like ancient portals held inside a dark vessel. The
road sign that hovers above looks like a full moon in the pitch dark sky
yet the leisure set lingers on, bathed in hot white light. It's an
otherworldly place where night and day coexist, linked as if poised between culture
and psyche.
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| Radiant Swim, 2013, Acrylic and oil on panel |
Huey is also an avid collector of vintage photos and a crack photographer in her own right, and she derives subject matter from a pastiche of found and created photographs. The exhibition namesake above, Radiant Swim is a
concise work with sharply defined compositional elements that skewer the picture place. The reiteration of those hulking golden arches, an
aspect of the retro-architecture that inhabits much of the artist's
visual field, anchors the image field with the sort of grand gesture that only a seasoned painter can pull off.
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| Moonlight Soak, 2013, acrylic and oil on canvas |
At day's end, the
faceless sunbathers, palm trees and shiny pools huddle together like
potent signifiers from our collective memory bank, a powerful visual
elixir. But it's the confidence and vision with which Huey executes her paintings that will draw you to and keep you looking at this work.
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Red Sky Submersion, 2013, acrylic and oil on canvas
It's
always a good time to see wonderful paintings, but today is a
great day to see the sunshine.
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Soft Wind, 2013, acrylic and oil on wood
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Elizabeth Huey: Radiant Sun is on view through February 18th. Don't miss the opening reception tomorrow, January 4, from 6-8pm at Harper's Books.
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