Big, lush expressionism. Whimsical sculpture. Cool, colorful photography. Who would think three very different artistic approaches could hold good company at the Durango Arts Center?
Painter Susan Wise, sculptor Jeff Wise and photographer Margy Dudley are exhibiting together in “Different Eyes,” open through Saturday at DAC. Somehow, different goals and widely distinct sensibilities add up to something quite intriguing. A smart installation makes connections in otherwise disparate works.
It helps to realize three strains of contemporary art are at work. In chronological order, Jeff Wise’s imaginative sculptures emerge from the world of Surrealism. Dudley’s fine sense of abstract form and pattern relate to the early 20th century concentration on geometric design called Modernism. Susan Wise joins ranks with the American abstract expressionists who stormed through the mid-20th century. All three domains nourish 21st-century visual culture by continuing to explore fantasy, form and expression.
Jeff Wise’s beautifully crafted sculptures are inventive leaps from the pool of Surrealism. “Cloud Fish” is a gold-plated, forged bronze dream, breathed into being by a combination of tremendous skill and light-hearted fantasy.
“Standing Taurus #1” may be the most abstract, but it carries echoes of two Spanish Surrealists: Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró i Ferrá. A sleek, simplified bull’s head doubles as a crescent moon mounted on elegant, stylized stainless-steel legs.
Other works are more deliberate in their references to the patron saints of Surrealism. “Seated Magritte,” is a whimsical forged bronze still life full of comical asides. Enjoy the off-kilter chair, bird, bowler hat and little silver charms including a train.
Sprinkled throughout the exhibit, Dudley’s color photographs reference Jeff Wise’s sculptural objects or installations. Extreme close-ups of nuts, bolts, gears and glass celebrate the beauty of form, pattern and texture. A few photographs picture whole works such as “Movumundo,” a carved marble figure reminiscent of Jeff Wise’s “Cabeza de la Luna” heads.
“Arc Ark” dominates the title wall, a splendid photograph of Jeff Wise’s elegant garden installation. A large crescent moon caps a complex but clear composition of found and constructed shapes.
Dudley’s photographs also complement Susan Wise’s ebullient paintings. A few years ago, the former portrait painter turned to abstract expressionism. “Leapt” might be the better verb as her body of work embraces the spontaneity essential to this fundamentally gestural approach to painting. Wise has already developed a visual vocabulary that includes full-bodied color, dry-brush lines and spirals, stark contrasts and dense ground painting. Working in acrylic, she layers and layers – paint and applied textures, sometimes to the point of overworking her canvases.
“Primary Entrance” has an especially clear vision with its bold composition and suggestion of after thoughts. “Kelp Forest” draws clearly on Miró for inspiration with a white textured ground, spidery black lines and loops filled with color. “Visionary” employs the same vocabulary suggests a figure.
The abstract expressionist approach celebrates process; it also can lead to overindulgence. In Wise’s best work, she finds the balance of energy and restraint.
Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, art historian and arts journalist.
If you go
“Different Eyes,” a collaborative exhibit by Susan and Jeff Wise with Margy Dudley, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave., through Saturday. The gallery is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call 970-259-2606 or visit www.durangoarts.org for more information.
