Yesterday I attended the opening of four simultaneous shows that will run until at least June 2. Paul Baylock, Claudio DaNapoli, Don Leger, and Paul Ott's art are being exhibited. Paul Baylock and Paul Ott are both longtime fellow artists and friends - Claudio and Don being new acquaintances and as such this is less a critical review and more an enthusiastic appreciation for everyone involved.
The shared common denominator for all four is a grounding of subject in memory and a broad and stark divergence in the development of the work.
Paul Ott and fellow artist Pierre Sylvain
Paul Ott is a professional photographer whose flower photographs I'm most familiar with. This exhibition features both flowers and black and white photos of underrepresented object spaces/places.
These flower photos are unique because the point of view is that of a horticultural voyeur - flowers aren't academically staged, they are being framed in compromising and sinfully beautiful detail.
Another body of photographs are stills that capture a spooky elegance of decades old remnants of a neglected and untended ruin. These snapshots that document the indifference of entropy on our claims of propriety.
Don Leger
In contrast Don Leger's paintings often picture summer vacation destinations. These are snapshots taken by the corner of one's eye or a lingering image of that moment any one of us might wish could last forever. Her are summer gardens that border clapboard vacation homes or beach scenes of a well traveled sand dune shortcut.
Paul Baylock's work will be familiar to central Connecticut gallery attendees. Paul's work reimagines historical marketing imprints that remain stuck to our consumer memory bank. The slogan, the ad from the back of a comic book or Hollywood trade periodical, or the illustration of an idyllic mother or father figure become part of a visual collage of color and contrast.
These paintings are the descendant visions from filmmakers like Roger Corman, Rod Serling, or David Lynch. There is a gaze that looks back - when you recognize it, it recognizes you. After all, who didn't want the X-ray vision of Roy Milland?
Claudio DaNapoli is one of a growing segment of artists using photographic artifact as material ground. His work is highly unique and somewhat original in that regard. DaNapoli started by making a collage of photographic images selectively overlaid with pastel embellishment. The effect is strikingly atmospheric and aesthetically pleasing. This success was followed by simply using a uniform photograph as back ground for the addition of pastel embellishment and subsequent framing using a bespoke, flat cement frame that gives it a three dimensional, apocalyptic ambiance.
As a longtime, sometimes ALNB member and artistic participant. DaNapoli's photographic technique reminded me of our patron saint, John E. Melecsinsky's highly under-rated photographic work in which he would draw into or decapitate the photographs of models. Same vibe.
A word about attending art openings - you never know who you'll run into. A cohort of familiar and unfamiliar Connecticut artists routinely show up to support each other's work and anyone and everyone interested in art is remiss in not taking advantage of the opportunity to pick their brains.
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