Line, shape, color: Abstract Show at Louisa Gould
Martha's Vineyard Times
By
ck Wolfson
September 6, 2011
The Louisa Gould Gallery on Main Street in Vineyard Haven is alive
with color, shape, and line in a varied and impressive collection of
abstract art. The gallery's fourth annual abstract show, Rhythm and
Blues, showcases the work of five artists whose work creates energy,
movement, and a rhythm that befits the show's title. The artists –
Roberta Gross, Marsha Staiger, Sondra Arkin, Laura Roosevelt, and
Ellyn Weiss – reveal unique approaches in a variety of media.
Aquinnah seasonal resident Roberta Gross, the show's curator, teaches
abstract and mixed media courses at Featherstone Center for the Arts.
She creates rectangles of collages consisting of stained glass-like
acrylic papers, gold leaf, and scrapes of recycled art works and
collograph prints. She is also exhibiting four large acrylic paintings
on paper with bold shapes and lines that suggest the earth's organic
formations.
Everyone is invited to listen to Ms. Gross speak about her work and
the abstract show on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2 to 3 pm at the gallery.
The paintings of Marsha Staiger, an award-winning artist from
Washington D.C., use textures, colors, paint layers, and collage to
establish a connection to rhythm and blues music.
Sondra Arkin's series of wax and shellac paintings on dibond suggest
various views of water including droplets, river rocks, and showers.
She works in a rich palette of red-purples, grey-blues, oranges and
yellows, layering and combining shapes and colors.
Laura Roosevelt of West Tisbury, a poet, journalist, and
photographer, is showing four abstract photographs, reflections of
objects in water. The boats, pilings, docks, and buildings appear
transformed by the water's movement.
Ellyn Weiss, a painter and printmaker, displays her series of
monoprints inspired by cellular structures and nature, and small
tile-like encaustics that evoke ocean waves.
Rhythm and Blues runs through Thursday, Sept. 15. Roberta Gross
speaks about abstract art, Sunday, Sept.11, 2 to 3 pm. Louisa Gould
Gallery, 54 Main Street, Vineyard Haven, 508-693-7373.