Painters explore intuitive process

By David C. Farmer
Special to The Advertiser

•	'Imminent Domain': Recent paintings by Alan Leitner & Timothy P. Ojile Through Feb. 14 Pegge Hopper Gallery 1164 Nu'uanu Ave. 524-1160 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays

So says Alan Leitner about his recent work, on view at the Pegge Hopper Gallery.

"Black Sphere" illustrates Leitner's aesthetic, especially the aspects of deterioration and time passing that he explores in his surfaces.

Like the medieval alchemists' quest of transmuting lead into gold — spiritually as much as literally — Leitner concocts wax potions in his studio to distill and transform them into a purer state.

He applies oil, wax and alkyd, plus asphaltum to his canvases to create intriguing and mysterious visions of nature revealed through a glass darkly.

In the process, the artist discovers hidden aspects of the materials — their essence — and engages in a Jungian journey of self-discovery.

"Row Boat," a subtle monochromatic piece executed in the same arcane materials, demonstrates how the traditional Japanese concept of wabi-sabi also informs his aesthetic.

Wabi-sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. It is the beauty of things modest and humble, of things unconventional.

As Leitner puts it, "things ripen and grow more beautiful with age, and there is beauty in all things, including dissolution and decay."

He notes that the main tasks of his work are observing and recording: "I am always experimenting. That keeps the activity of painting dynamic, surprising and challenging."

For the viewer, the joy of seeing and playing is infectious, prompting visions of the underground, a panorama of space, a surface that emphasizes the material it is made of, or a panorama of inner and/or outer space.

In all his pieces, Leitner engages the viewer in a profoundly meditative experience.

Leitner has been an important creative force in our arts community for more than 30 years, and this exhibition shows that his inventive powers continue unabated.

We are the beneficiaries of his restless seeking. "All of this excites me," he says, "because I will never run out of things to paint."

On the other side of the gallery hang recent mixed-media-on-canvas works by Timothy P. Ojile.

While he is equally interested in process, Ojile's works stand in stark visual contrast to Leitner's in a way that complements both artists' work.

Most obvious is the difference in their use of color, Leitner opting for muted monochromes and weathered surfaces, Ojile embracing a primary palette of bright yellows, blues and oranges, red, black and white.

Ojile is freer and more spontaneous in paint application, at least in patches, against a strongly graphic design that echoes a sort of hang-loose Mondrian colorist morphing into a limpid Leger.

Indeed, the cleverly titled "Legerdemain" alludes to the French cubist, the artist's personal domain and the literal meaning, sleight of hand.

Ojile's abstract forms communicate both whimsy and eroticism: Brindled cows playing hide-and-seek with voluptuous Rubenesque nudes — lips, legs, nipples and all.

He also is clearly interested in the gesture of paint, as in the various ways he applies the pigment: disciplined and orderly at one extreme, painterly and abstract expressionist at the other, all on the same canvas.

"Master" deftly balances these various impulses into a composition that puzzles and amuses.

Ojile teaches a class at the Honolulu Academy of Arts called Intuitive Painting.

His upcoming one-day workshop at the Academy Art Center at Linekona with Stuart Robson will offer students painting exercises interspersed with movement techniques throughout the day.

Although knowledge and practice of tai chi or other movement, or painting and drawing, will be helpful, they are not required. The workshop, "White Mist, Black Smoke: Finding Balance through Movement and Art," takes place 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 22. Registration: 532-8741.

Guest writer David C. Farmer was The Advertiser's Sunday art columnist in 1975-76. He holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting and drawing and a master's in Asian and Pacific art history. Victoria Gail-White, whose writing usually is published here on Sundays, is taking a week off.