Brian Guidry's rigorously executed abstractions have long suggested
meditations on symmetry and surprise, harmony and heraldry, nature and
manipulation. But now there are some new approaches like
Cool Down Active where buoyant, floating forms and randomized textures suggest a larger role for the laws of chance. All hell breaks loose in
Absolute Zero
as free-form pigments blast forth from an invisible seam in space, and
if the colors are pure Guidry, their serpentine ripples convey an
expansive aura that makes the over five foot canvas seem bigger than it
is. Formal order is restored in the purple, green, gold and fuchsia
tones of
Serenity Amp, above, where mystical geometry vibrates to the
rhythm of textured, Shroud-of- Turin-like markings that look almost like
they might perform an electronic music requiem if scanned.
It is always around but you can't always see it. Its presence ebbs and flows; it can be big and bloody, or barely visible and pale as driven snow. The moon is linked to madness and witchcraft--as well as to women, so it fits neatly into Monica Zeringue's
Goddesses and Monsters series where female figures mingle with lunar mysticism. In
Narcissus, above, a Zeringue-like nude gazes
into a puddle of water and sees herself reflected as the full moon.
Rendered in graphite, this luminously cool self portrait flanked by a
series of detailed close ups of the moon rendered in graphite and dark
beads on white primed linen.
Blood Moon, depicted in deep crimson oils, beads and hair, is more dramatic and personal, as is
Flesh Moon with its bodily aura of warm, moist organs secreted deep within the body. But
Cusp, above left with its decorous white pigment, gold beads and flowery red wallpaper, evokes otherworldly harmony.
Post Tenebras Lux, above, transforms her own visage into a vertiginous reflection of the ever shifting phases of the moon in a new example of the old mystical adage: "as above, so below." ~Bookhardt /
Invisible Ping: New Paintings and Collages by Brian Guidry;
Absence and Presence: New Paintings and Drawings by Monica Zeringue, Through Oct. 31,
Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 400A Julia St., 522-5471.
into a puddle of water and sees herself reflected as the full moon.
Rendered in graphite, this luminously cool self portrait flanked by a
series of detailed close ups of the moon rendered in graphite and dark
beads on white primed linen. Blood Moon, depicted in deep crimson oils, beads and hair, is more dramatic and personal, as is Flesh Moon with its bodily aura of warm, moist organs secreted deep within the body. But Cusp, above left with its decorous white pigment, gold beads and flowery red wallpaper, evokes otherworldly harmony. Post Tenebras Lux, above, transforms her own visage into a vertiginous reflection of the ever shifting phases of the moon in a new example of the old mystical adage: "as above, so below." ~Bookhardt / Invisible Ping: New Paintings and Collages by Brian Guidry; Absence and Presence: New Paintings and Drawings by Monica Zeringue, Through Oct. 31, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 400A Julia St., 522-5471.
