REFLECTION: BOSTON ARTISTS CATCH LIGHT

ClipArt Gallery in collaboration with Atlantic Works Gallery• Clippership Wharf, East Boston, MA

True to its title, the exhibit, Reflection, is an intense study in light. Entering the ClipArt Gallery on Clippership Wharf at the edge of Boston Harbor, one is struck by the ripples of reflected color and light on the walls-a continuation of the external environ­ment. Christine Palamidessi, a member of Atlantic Works Gallery, curated this discerning exhibit of four Boston artists in East Boston's newest exhibition space.

Katherine Miller's paintings, Monologue and Conversation, splash color over an entire wall. They are "environmental in nature and meta­phorical in emotion" in the words of the artist. The works are process-driven, and the absolute up-front quality of the brushstrokes and bold use of color animate the surroundings.

On an adjoining wall, Jeannie Motherwell's Alchemy and Harbinger explore both inner and outer space in a manner both sophisticated and visceral. Her play with color on surface flows and undulates in continuous motion.

Motherwell pushes and pours her paint onto the large canvases, welcoming the unexpected into her work, which finds its final form through an organic relationship between painter and paint.

Recursive Reverie, by Diane Teubner, breaks light into miniscule com­ponents in a series of six grid-like paintings, each with a distinctive color palette. Interval, measure

and rhythm are primary qualities which give structure and interest to the composite instal­lation. They are meditative works that feel like weavings of pure color.

Wendy Prellwitz's Sentry and Underglow are recognizable scenes of water flowing around the omnipresent waterfront piers. What is most striking is the journey present in the paintings, a movement from the par­ticular to the infinite. The brushstrokes represent the known world yet take one beyond. Prellwitz seems to be painting with light itself, as if the world beyond the windows has flowed right into the gallery.

Palamidessi was spot on when she wrote in her cura­tor's statement that each art­ist embraced Boston light in their own way. The resultant exhibit is original, exciting and pulsates with extraordinary energy. The multiple spaces of the ClipArt Gallery become an immersive environment, carrying the viewer into fresh experiences while witnessing the interaction of color and light.