Pentimenti Preview/Early Review

Image taken from:

http://localephemera.blogspot.com/2007/07/real-bling-was-on-street.html

The new show at the Pentimenti Gallery doesn't officially open until next Friday but I've taken a peak and here's what I saw: David Ambrose's daedal works are less than engaging from a distance, but look a little closer and you'll find a porous, wavy web of colors. Ambrose pierces relatively thick paper in precise or wandering lines to create a braille-like texture (one of the works is titled "Braillescape" or something similar) before releasing watercolors upon the bumpy terrain, creating a nice balance between "control and chance." Art historically, the work immediately brings to mind Lucio Fontana's holey canvases:

Lucio Fontana Concetto Spaziale, La Fine di Dio

Oil on canvas, 1964. The Rachofsky Collection.
Image used with the courtesy of http://www.panachemag.com/Spring_07/TheBuzz/TheCollector/The_Collector.asp

Fontana's work, however, has more of a modernist "shock of the new" feel about it whereas Ambrose acknowledges and encourages a connection with the inherently "feminine and anonymous" history of knitting and lace-work rather than the "heroic and autographic" tendencies of painting and building (paraphrasing his own words). This aspect of his work makes it more inviting and warm than ambitious and exclusive (I'm aware that this argument can be made to support the mediocre over the great but that is not the case here--Ambrose's art is both average in appearance and superior in process and philosophy). Ambrose's work successfully commingles the trendy non-monumental world, the Yayoi Kusama school of repetition, and the increasingly prevalent "fine artist" fascination with craftwork.

On a Side Note: The works at Pentimenti are more painterly and less like classical patterns than the image above which is taken from a previous show.

Also showing at the Pentimenti Gallery is Matthew Kucynski's work:

Green Receptionist, Mixed Media, 36" x 36"

Used with the courtesy of http://www.poolartfair.com/pool_miami_05/exhibitors.html

Kucynski's particular blend of blatant sexuality and surrealistic strangeness isn't particularly intriguing and the "pop-up book" theme seems gimmicky. Most relief-styled, protruding, or distinctly shaped paintings have this problem because the three-dimensional accentuation exhibits a lack of faith in painting. However, his Technicolor Wizard of Oz tonality is charming and the obvious fun he had while envisioning these id-driven characterizations comes through the work.

Finally, head out to the Sam Quinn gallery (around 4500 Spruce...past UPenn) to see SUMFA alumnus Melinda Steffy's show if you haven't already.

Thanks for reading!
Matthew Parrish