Perhaps it was because the “official
kick-off” of the First Fridays Artwalk
fall season isn’t until next month,
but September’s offering proved less
spectacular than usual. Gallery 5 and
Richmond Camera weren’t even open.
So if you didn’t venture out, you didn’t
miss too much, but there are a few artists
whose shows should be checked out.
Critic’s picks
ADA Gallery
Bruce Wilhelm’s new works stand
out in this gallery’s show. Many of his
paintings seem Asian-inspired in their
colorings, shapes and textures. Wilhelm’s
work can be macabre and surreal. His
framed stop-animation paintings are
quirky and captivating. Wilhelm is a
2004 VCU painting and printmaking
graduate.
Elisabeth Condon is a good show
pairing for Wilhelm. Her paintings also
give off an Asian-influenced vibe with
their depictions of nature, featuring vivid
reds and blues in sweeping, swirling
brush-strokes.
Dean Dass’ work appears muted and
subtle when juxtaposed with the boldness
of Condon’s and Wilhelm’s pieces.
Dass draws soft sketches of figures on
natural-colored paper, with splotches
and dribblings of pastel watercolors
washed on top.
1708 Gallery
“Outside In” is the title of Marilee
Keys’ collection of interactive, mixedmedia
wonders. Adorning one huge wall
are pine needles arranged into rows of
symbols pinned on the wall – a secret
message that gallery goers can decipher
using the symbol translations on the
back of the gallery show paper handed
out at the door.
There is a tiny sculpture made from
cat whiskers and Mylar, and dried
leaves are suspended in a row at just
about the right height for someone tall
to run into.
The piece de résistance is the “Paper
Garden.” Keys used junk mail collected
over a period of nine months to create
the piece by twirling the paper into
tubes using a contemporary version of
the technique of paper quilling. Keys
suspends the tubes as sculptures hanging
just above the floor.
Visual Art Studio
Although Michael Gettings’ painting
style might be traditional, his oil
paintings are far from typical. His latest
exhibit is of what he calls “figurative
storytelling.” Gettings uses multiple
panels to tell his stories, breaking the
image up.
One panel might be a close-up of the
subject’s face, even though it is cut off
in another panel. Different angles and
distances are explored in the panels,
which are all different sizes and shapes,
sometimes overlaid. The viewer might not
get the complete picture of the subject is
able to follow the subject’s story.