Saturday, December 5, 2009

Reviewed: Kristine Moran, Sharon Switzer, Robyn McCallum


Today, the National Post published three of my brief reviews of shows currently on in the Distillery district: Kristine Moran @ Clark & Faria, Sharon Switzer @ Jane Corkin and Robyn McCallum @ Pikto. Here's an excerpt:

In her first Toronto solo show in four years, locally trained, New York-based painter Kristine Moran offers eight enjoyable paintings -- all so enjoyable, in fact, that the show has already sold out. Fortunately, they're still available for viewing. Moran's paintings are quietly dynamic -- though she has skill in balancing light and dark, line and form, curved and straight, flat and goopy, she doesn't shout it rudely in your face. Rather, she lets you discover it yourself through an intelligent visual conversation. Her wide-brush strokes, which would seem to span six inches or more in compressed sweeps, are particularly fun. Also interesting is the way that Moran's forms alternately evoke interior architecture, like lobby ceilings and kitchen floors, and exterior landscapes, such as rivers and fields glimpsed through the foggy window of a speeding train. This kind of shifting, prismatic effect adds conceptual heft to Moran's fashionable, sophisticated initial appearances -- important because, without this anchor, this kind of work could easily fall into vapid prettiness. To Jan. 10.

Image of Kristine Moran's Hidden in the Shore Maze from Clark & Faria

4 comments:

pixo said...
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pixo said...
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pixo said...

Abstract paintings are often flat. Kristine's paintings are amazingly 3D in feel. Although abstract, the illusion of 3D pictorial space make them feel surreal.

Influence-wise, I see Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter, and 19th century romantic paintings.

It is always great to come across good paintings from contemporary artists.

It is also great to see contemporary art that is enjoyable.

Leah Sandals said...

Hi Pixo,
Thanks for your comments... I didn't think about the 2-D/3-D thing before in relation to Moran's work. I think that's partly because I don't really come from a painting entry point (more a photo entry point) so I only see certain things in paintings and not others.
In any case, I'll look at this more closely in future!
Best,
Leah