Posted on: Sunday, October 28, 2001
Art
Sensual flowers, death symbols and abstract landscapes
By Virginia Wageman
Advertiser Art Critic
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| Robert Kushner's "Nahenahe" shows flowers in oil, acrylic, glitter and gold leaf on canvas.
Brad Goda . . . . Mark Kadota • The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center |
Three exciting shows are on view at the Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center, foremost among them a splendid group of works by New York-based Robert Kushner, who makes periodic painting trips to Hawai'i.
Also on display are paintings by Mark Kadota, a Hawai'i resident, and a collection of works by four artists called "Small Works on Paper."
Robert Kushner
Eight paintings, a pair of large folding screens and two prints are on view. Kushner works with a bold, bright palette, adding metal leaf and glitter to further spark his wild colors and patterns. His subject in the works currently on exhibit is flowers of Hawai'i.
Ginger, plumeria, hibiscus, heliconia and other blossoms are painted in a semi-abstract manner over exuberant abstract backgrounds. Squares of metallic leaf, primarily gold but also silver and other colors, are collaged on, adding reflective patterns and dimensionality to the flat surfaces. Forms are further accented with selectively applied glitter.
Associated with the Pattern and Decoration movement that emerged in the 1970s, Kushner has moved beyond the stylized compositions often equated with that style to complex expressions of form and color. In its joyous approach, free of angst or any hint of darkness, his work is reminiscent of that of Matisse and Dufy.
With its emphasis on pattern, the art of Iran has had an important influence on Kushner's work, as has art of the Far East. Eastern suggestions can be seen especially in the application of gold and in the fluid brushwork of foliage and blossoms.
The works exhibited were painted on the island of Hawai'i in 2000 and 2001 or derive from time spent there. "Nahenahe," title of the show itself, as well as of one painting in the show, is the Hawaiian word for "soft, sweet, melodious."
In their lyrical patternings and graceful compositions, the works are indeed soft and sweet, evoking tropical breezes and flavors. But they are equally evocative of the tropics in their suggestions of sensuality and passion.
The two folding screens, nearly 6 feet high and 10 feet wide, are spectacular and demand a presence in some important Island home.
Kushner is represented by the DC Moore Gallery, New York. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Tate Gallery in London. He will give a gallery talk Nov. 15 at 9:30 a.m. There is no charge, but reservations are requested (526-1322, ext. 10).
Mark Kadota
Also at the First Hawaiian Center is "Memento Mori," an exhibition of recent work by Hawai'i resident Mark Kadota.
Kadota spends part of each year in Amsterdam, and he has been influenced by the Dutch still-life tradition of the 17th century. "Memento Mori" ("remember, you must die") refers to a kind of genre painting done in Europe from the 15th century in which objects were depicted to signify the vanity of life or as a reminder of death. Many still lifes were considered memento mori.
In such paintings, flowers and vegetables — which appear in all of Kadota's works — are emblematic of death in that they will fade and rot. Empty glasses — another Kadota mainstay — signify the end of life. Also serving as reminders of mortality in Kadota's paintings are such contemporary images as condoms, cigarettes and drugs.
Kadota's luscious flowers and abundant fruits and vegetables may be read not only as death-related, however, but as celebrations of life — another essential function of the memento mori.
Adding to the layers of symbolic imagery within the paintings are the meanings hidden in the titles, which are taken from Dutch proverbs. For example, "One Sprinkles the Most Sugar Where the Tart Is Burnt" titles a painting of a bowl of ripe strawberries accompanied by wrapped condoms that have the look of sugar packets.
Kadota is self-trained and works in many media. The memento mori paintings, while engaging in themselves, also serve as a means for the artist to explore earlier painting traditions in the context of 21st-century society.
Small Works on Paper
The exhibition of small works on paper at the First Hawaiian Center includes paintings, drawings and mixed-media works by four artists: Saba Daraee, Sanit Khewhok, Jinja Kim and Rebecca Ramos.
Daraee continues an exploration of organic, structural forms in space, here with very soft drawings done in oilstick, a medium similar to pastel. The color tones are also soft — pale blue, coral and yellow.
These works are mostly about the process of making art, which comes into play too in Khewhok's watercolors. The compositions are abstract landscapes, each with a horizon line to fix the landscape in space.
But rather than being purposefully delineated by the artist, the compositions arise from laying watery colors on the paper, then allowing the paints to float and drip across the surface. Delicate colors emerge from overlayers of paints, lending an ethereal quality to the works. Several have drawn-in architectural elements, with buildings seemingly arising from the mists of memory.
Kim, born in Korea and for whom English is a second language, deals with language and place in whimsical works that have a grid or map as their underlying surface.
Imagery comes in the form of rub-on letters and numbers, rubber stamps, tracings, transfers, handwriting and drawings.
The works of Ramos are the most esoteric in the show. Each is a beautifully rendered landscape with mountains, either the Jiminez Range in New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was developed, or Hawaiian ranges.
Coming into play are many cultural and historical references. Representing the complexity of the narrative in the works, a cat's cradle — the game played with fingers and string — appears in many drawings.
Virginia Wageman can be reached at VWageman@aol.com.
