By
Keith Waits
Entire contents are copyright © 2012 Keith Waits.
All rights reserved.
“I
cannot NOT paint!!!”
Sharon
Matisoff makes this statement with such unabashed enthusiasm that one could not
possibly doubt the earnestness of the claim. Having explored a range of
subjects throughout her history as an artist, from participants in renaissance
faires to young ballet students, and the inevitable recruiting of family
members, sometimes when they don’t particularly feel like being a subject, now
the driven painter turns her observant eye to other artists. In “Rites of
Passage: A Celebration of Louisville Artists,” a new exhibit about to open at
Kaviar Forge and Gallery, portraiture is the order of the day and the artist
working in the studio is the theme.
Ms.
Matisoff is an experienced portrait artist, and this particular adventure began
after gallery owner Craig Kaviar saw his own portrait in pastels and suggested
the artist use it as the jumping off point for a series. She set about pursuing
subjects, often with one artist suggesting another until she had accumulated a
host of local painters, sculptors, ceramicists and fibre artists. While the
task at first seemed daunting, Matisoff was given a warm reception from all the
artists she approached, a fact that underscores the communal thread that unites
all artists in society and provides something of a subtext for her work.
 |
| Self-portrait. |
That
connectivity among creative individuals becomes an important aspect of the
straightforward compositions of the paintings. If there is a certain stolid
uniformity in the way the figures are placed, even when working, it seems by
design rather than any lack of ingenuity on the part of the artist. It is not characteristic
of her previous work, which charts a restless and perhaps even relentless
journey of exploration. When discussing her past work, the artist has stories
for every painting, one concerning the subject, and another that charts her
growth and self-examination.
 |
| Ed Hamilton, Pastel. |
This
duality of purpose is here manifested explicitly in the decision to create for
each subject two separate images, one in oil and another in pastel: one
straightforward set-up in which the subject gazes directly at the viewer, and
one showing the craftsman at work. The latter are notable for the specificity
of gesture, the painter’s eye capturing the most evocative angle of the wrist
when Ed Hamilton grinds the surface of a small sculpture, or the concentration
displayed by the tongue embedded in Lucas Nelson Marvell’s cheek while he
fashions wood for a violin.
 |
| John Michael Carter at His Easel, Oil. |
Some
of the compositions are more complex, such as when we see painter John Michael
Carter at work on a canvas, the work table including tubes of oil paint in the
foreground that usher us into the studio space and the depiction of other
Carter canvases in the background. The idea of portrait encompassing the studio
environment, including recreations of the subject’s work, reoccurs in the
series but is most prominent in this example.
 |
| Al Nelson, Oil. |
Many
of the other paintings are more rooted to the physical human presence, and
there are instances wherein the depiction of the artist manages to express
something of the nature of their work. Sculptor Al Nelson seems to occupy space
with a statuesque quality befitting a stone carver, his rough-hewn visage
resting atop a monolithic torso: the man
as monument.
 |
| Dennis Schaffner, Oil. |
Each
image makes for a satisfactory portrait on its own merits, but the series as a
whole touches upon more expansive themes of community and connectedness among
individuals with a shared passion for making art. In Dennis Shaffner’s oil
portrait, the artist appears to simply be holding one of his woven-vine
constructions between his two hands; yet the natural light striking the face
and the orb shaped piece not-quite-in-his-grasp are captured by Ms. Matisoff so
that the object of the artist’s attention takes on an otherworldly, almost
preternatural presence: the spark of
creativity made manifest in how one artist sees another. It connotes a
spiritual quality that, upon reflection, is present, if more subtly, in the
other pieces. This same glow can be seen in each artist’s eyes: the act of creation as one action combining the
tangible and ephemeral in equal measure.
Still,
the compositional formality is part and parcel of a classical approach to
portraiture that emphasizes psychological insight over dynamic visual
structures. In Matisoff’s previous series, the subjects afforded her the
opportunity to construct group compositions that overtly conjured up the
relationship between the members of a particular community: participants in a renaissance faire socially
bonded by an interest in a specific historical period; or the students who
embrace the discipline of dance at an early age, either engaged in the practice
of movement or at rest along the sidelines. Subtle relationships of human
experience expressed through the relationships of color, light and composition.
In
this new series, which the artist describes as “the most important group,
because it (art) is the most important aspect of myself,” there are no collectives,
no artists talking among themselves or working side by side, so that the relationships
must leap from canvas to canvas, linking each individual into the community
through repetitive composition and positioning; and the depiction of that
sacred act of creation that is shown in the “action” portraits: paint-filled brush
poised above a canvas, hands sunk into soft, slippery clay on the wheel,
fingers manipulating tools that dig and grind into more recalcitrant materials.
Ultimately, they work as pieces of the whole, the entire exhibit functioning as
one singular and glorious expression of community.
"Rites of Passage: A
Celebration of Louisville Artists"
A Portrait Exhibition by
Sharon Matisoff
June
6 – September 6, 2012
Artists’
Receptions: F.A.T. Fridays 6-9pm
June
29, July
27, August
31
Kaviar
Forge & Gallery
1718
Frankfort Avenue
Louisville,
KY 40206
502-561-0377
Gallery
Hours: Wed-Fri, 12-6pm, Sat 12-4pm
Thank you for this excellent review of Sharon's new show! I am looking forward to the show on opening night. She has done a fabulous job!
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