Those who Object, raise your hands. object :an exhibit | wouldn't be surprised if Ron Denessen was born with a protractor in one hand and a ruler in the other - his paintings are that precise. Discipline is the first word that comes to mind when | look at his pieces, with "hard edge" vying for second, and "mod- ern" bringing up the rear. Ron's works are the first of many abstract pieces that wait to greet you as you peruse "Object", which occupied the Concourse gallery between November 19th and 24th. | myself used to be an ardent fan of dismissing abstract painting as things that, well, looked good above the couch and were executed by someone who couldn't render well. | think differ- ently now. | like some abstract pieces because they engage the medium head on - if the color or composition isn't right, they haven't got any subject matter to fall back on. | find that if | don't get myself ravelled up in the modernist/postmodernist debate and just appreciate them as art for their own sake | am happier (less confused, anyway). To deny that there is still some tension around abstract painting is delusional, but to engage it would take up more space than 3 bathroom stall walls, even if | wrote really small. | also can't help but compare some abstracts to represen- tational objects. (Kinda' like looking at clouds, it just happens, and | bet that more than one abstract painter has seen a bunny rabbit in a cumulus.) This was the case with Adrian Robertshaw's piece that was made of a large sawblade and tarred wood; it was absolutely beautiful, and shows what a knack he has for transforming the decrepit and overlooked into the revered and enamoured. The word "monumental" comes to mind. One nagging fact was that it looked somewhat like a deflated ying-yang symbol, which negated the objectivity and abstractiveness of it, and connoted the iconic. | was keeping an eye open to see if it would recoil and jump off the wall at somebody, it was the epitome of potential energy. Sonia Sangha's piece was mounted in a refreshing and unorthodox manner: facing the ceiling. The approximately 4"x 4" in the ECIAD Concourse Gallery reviewed by Sean Clancy cs panels were colorful, luscious, candylike blurred images under matte resin that demanded attention to each of the 24 panels. They were quite engrossing, and interesting even when detached from their siblings. Not that | touched them or anything. Really. The title Mundane Sensationalism. seemed strangely apt, although the piece was anything but mundane. On the topic of lusciousness, Carolyn Stockbridge's pieces look as if they are about to slide off their panels, they are that vis- cous. There is such a visceral quality about the paint, which is very thick and rich. The greens and blacks are never flat and dull, they are like pools of oil, landscapes as seen through vaseline tinted glasses. The paint on the edges of the panels at first seemed some- what out of place; however, they seemed fitting after looking at the images for a while. David Look's pieces, Ed and Darlene, were the only pieces where discernable objects - in the form of text - were appar- ent. No bunny rabbits here, only play with color combinations that simultaneously make the viewer question their prescription and at the same time ponder where they have seen that font before. (The font is used on cash register reciepts, the same place he got the names from.) Back to the subject of clean lines and colour considera- tions, | felt that the colours in Dindo Rieta's piece untitled were incongruous with each other (lime green and purple), and under- worked. The lines were unclean and demanding of more attention. All together this was one of the best curated, cleanest, and best designed shows I've seen in the gallery. Everything includ- ing the invites was in keeping with the context of the show: clean and thoughtfully executed. There was a perfect number of pieces in the show, enough to remain cohesive and have new material at every glance, and spaced perfectly so as not to overwhelm. 25 _@) Those who Object, raise your hands: oe Baas object :an exhibit in the ECIAD Concourse Gallery reviewed by Sean Clancy | wouldn't be surprised if Ron Denessen was born with a protractor in one hand and a ruler in the other - his paintings are that precise. Discipline is the first word that comes to mind when | look at his pieces, with "hard edge" vying for second, and "mod- ern* bringing up the rear. Ron's works are the first of many abstract pieces that wait to greet you as you peruse "Object", ‘which occupied the Concourse gallery between November 19th and 24th. | myself used to be an ardent fan of dismissing abstract painting as things that, well, looked good above the couch and were executed by someone who couldn't render well. | think differ- ently now. | like some abstract pieces because they engage the medium head on - if the color or composition isn’t right, they haven't got any subject matter to fall back on. | find that if | don't get myself ravelled up in the modernist/post modernist debate and just appreciate them as art for their own sake | am happier (less confused, anyway). To deny that there is still some tension around abstract painting is delusional, but to engage it would take up more space than 3 bathroom stall walls, even if | wrote really small 1 also can't help but compare some abstracts to represen- tational objects. (Kinda' like looking at clouds, it just happens, and | bet that more than one abstract painter has seen a bunny rabbit in a cumulus.) This was the case with Adrian Robertshaw’s piece that was made of a large sawblade and tarred wood; it was absolutely beautiful, and shows what a knack he has for transforming the decrepit and overlooked into the revered and enamoured. The word "monumental" comes to mind. One nagging fact was that it looked somewhat like a deflated ying-yang symbol, which negated the objectivity and abstractiveness of it, and connoted the iconic. | was keeping an eye open to see if it would recoil and jump off the wall at somebody, it was the epitome of potential energy. Sonia Sangha's piece was mounted in a refreshing and unorthodox manner: facing the ceiling, The approximately 4"x 4" panels were colorful, luscious, candylike blurred images under matte resin that demanded attention to each of the 24 panels. ‘They were quite engrossing, and interesting even when detached from their siblings. Not that | touched them or anything, Really. The title Mundane Sensationalism. seemed strangely apt, although the piece was anything but mundane. (On the topic of lusciousness, Carolyn Stockbridge's pieces look as if they are about to slide off their panels, they are that vis- cous. There is such a visceral quality about the paint, which is very thick and rich. The greens and blacks are never flat and dull, they are like pools of oil, landscapes as seen through vaseline tinted glasses. The paint on the edges of the panels at first seemed some- What out of place; however, they seemed fitting after looking at the images for a while. David Look's pieces, Ed and Darlene, were the only pieces where discernable objects - in the form of text - were appar- ent. No bunny rabbits here, only play with color combinations that simultaneously make the viewer question their prescription and at the same time ponder where they have seen that font before. (The font is used on cash register reciepts, the same place he got the names from.) Back to the subject of clean lines and colour considera- tions, | felt that the colours in Dindo Rieta’s piece untitled were incongruous with each other (lime green and purple), and under- worked. The lines were unclean and demanding of more attention. Al together this was one of the best curated, cleanest, and best designed shows I've seen in the gallery. Everything includ- ing the invites was in keeping with the context of the show: clean and thoughtfully executed. There was a perfect number of pieces in the show, enough to remain cohesive and have new material at every glance, and spaced perfectly so as not to overwhelm 25 _@)