I walked into the gallery at the wrong entrance and saw the end of the exhibition first, working my way towards the earlier paintings. That was a revelation. The newer paintings are nature aglow. Infused with visions or more likely the intense emotion the painter felt about what he observed, you feel the brilliance and murkiness of the each forest scene. Insects are like flowers, trees are like chapels, colors are pale and psychedelic. At times I felt like I was looking at a cross between Van Gogh and Edward Hopper. I felt the shining euphoria and the urban loneliness. Earlier pieces of nature reminded me of a coal mining town and sure enough as I went further into the gallery there were those scenes represented too. I was amazed that I had gotten the feeling of the dark, gritty coal mine town from trees. The best paintings are like cathedrals of light and air and color. They are messy and crawling with life. Above is The Insect Chorus. The shadows are abstract and stylized. It's an earlier piece signaling to you something wild is coming.
At the Hammer Museum.
