Ambience and Noise: Artworks by Ron Schira
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| Chaos and Order - Acrylic on Canvas - 24 x 30 Inches |
By Kristen Woodward
Professor of Art, Albright College
Ron Schira’s paintings on display at Clay on Main in Oley this month cajole us into their formalistic banter with juicy blocks of ochre, crimson and blue. In an exhibit aptly titled Ambience and Noise, Schira presents dazzling non-objective works alongside appreciably quieter compositions. Despite the dominance of their geometric color blocking, the work overall maintains a haptic, gestural sensibility that reads as highly personal and appealing. Edges don’t quite meet along straight boundaries- and it’s in these faint wavering threads that the viewer senses not reluctance, but a contemplative engagement with media and process. These are painters’ paintings. Brushstrokes are visible, but restrained. I found it curious to see the disparity in scale, by in large preferring the smaller intimate pieces.
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| Snakecharmer - Acrylic on Canvas - 48 x 60 inches |
The larger paintings such as Snakecharmer exert a bold confidence with shards of multi-colored triangles, but it’s the modest and often untitled pieces that command the space. Also of note were the colored pencil drawings on found supports. Fluid explorations on commercially printed ledger papers, they subverted the rigidity of the pre-ruled lines. Perhaps because of this underlying structure, or in reaction to it, Schira’s works became decidedly more lyrical in this series. While the painterly marks don’t exactly deny the printed material, I was left to question if there was a conceptual counter play against the idea of totaling the sum and worth of drawing, painting or art as vocation, or if the support was merely a ubiquitous available surface. The casual presentation of these pieces tacked to the wall in bi-folding pairs underscores the way we experience an open book. The white oval scalloped center line remaining from spiral binding is a vestige of connection no longer needed to be understood. I found it satisfying that these drawings functioned as diptyches, but the duality of two disrupted but equal halves could reference other measures- of equality, time, worth, or natural symmetry. Luckily there’s room in this series to contemplate layers of intentionality without disrupting the formal design presence.
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| Ledger #5 - Gouache and Colored Pencil on Paper - 14 x22 inches |
Ambience and Noise: Artworks by Ron Schira was shown at Clay On Main Gallery from February 10 through March 24.
Kristen Woodward's work may be seen at:
www.kristentwoodward.com
