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Metaphor And Meaning: Prints By Susan Rothenberg And Marino Marini by Shawn Hill In conjunction with the show of paintings of this decade by Susan Rothenberg currently ongoing at the MFA, Creiger-Dane has come up with this showcase of prints that includes her work from the past 20 years. Marini, a generation earlier and European, provides an interesting counterpart to Rothenberg's more enigmatic, ~American" imagery. Rothenberg is a painter who works in the tradition of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism. Within her heavy strokes of paint, however, one finds imagery, a personal iconography that retains universal appeal. Animals, animal spirits, and figures in motion are recurrent motifs. There's something of Philip Guston in her work (both from cartoon and abstract phases,) as her simplified figures are made up of thick, stretched daubs of paint which cover the surface. Horses are perhaps her signature subjects, and gallery director Geeta Badkar and her associates have pulled together a few horse images in this show of prints. It's a retrospective of sorts, but not a complete one. Coming by Rothenberg work for sale is a challenge, and the images here are all over the map, jumping from theme to theme to provide a fragmentary impression of some of the artist's concerns. Some prints are in color, others in black and white. There are etchings, lithographs and woodcuts. Unifying elements include the use of paper, Rothenberg's reliance on gestural black marks as sturdy basic frameworks, and of course her own vision. That vision seems most concerned with capturing a sense of time and movement on still surfaces. Rothenberg's gestures are always already happening, actions which have a ripple effect through the ether she evokes in her haze of marks. There's an eternal quality here, a timelessness that has to do with repetition. Her cantering horses are always cantering; a figure splashing an arm through running water is perpetually dousing himself. "Red Bamboo" seems to be about listening, as an exaggerated head floats next to a single stalk, before green tiles that seem to shimmer in place. It's a quiet work, meditative, as much about silence as others are about activity. "White Legs" in an etching shows the exaggerated musculature of an active horse, and also acts as a frame for a roiling void. In "Monkey in a Tree," the lithe monkey can barely be discerned. It's a coil of energy, a blurred tangle of limbs, wrapped in all directions around a sturdy trunk. The largest and most significant print here, "BIue Violin," seems to be about the experience of music in a concert hall. Four squares of primary color are indicated, with some sort of activity in each: the gesturing hands of a conductor, a violin perched on a shoulder, sturdy legs supporting an erect stance. It's a deconstruction of our senses as they respond to well-played music, an evocation of totality made up of fractured parts. Marini's work is calmer, and more traditional in that it comes solidly out of a cubist vocabulary. Marini died in 1980, and his work does seem to reflect an earlier sensibility no longer in vogue. His competent constructions of angles and arcs, faceted planes of color, are requisitely modern, evocative of the Picasso prints also sometimes available through this gallery. Marini too has signature themes, mostly involving carnival-esque figures and cantering horses. Much of his work apparently reflects the sad anomie of post-WWII existential despair. The navigation buttons on the upper right will take you to the top (this page), previous, and next page in this show. You may click on our logo at any time to return to our home page. We hope you enjoy your visit, and invite you to sign our Guest Book. |
Take 1 Metaphore and Meaning Take 2 Metaphore and Meaning Living | Atrs Metaphore and Meaning  Red Bamboo Susan Rothenberg Untitled (May #1) Susan Rothenberg Untitled (May #2) Susan Rothenberg Untitled (Hartford Proof) Susan Rothenberg Untitled (Black Arm) Susan Rothenberg Monkey in a Tree Susan Rothenberg Blue Violin Susan Rothenberg Tre Grazie (Three Graces) Marino Marini Bizzarria Marino Marini Risveglio Marino Marini ll Teatro delle Maschere (Theater of Masks) Marino Marini Presentazione II Marino Marini Marino from Shakespeare II Marino Marini Cavaliere Marino Marini Cavaliere e Cavallo (Horse & Rider) Marino Marini La Traviata Marino Marini Price List Susan Rothenberg & Marino Marini |