Although I speak from a devoted colorist position, I look forward to Artists Unlimited's current juried exhibition, their 11th annual Black & White Shades of Grey. Among its strengths are moments of quiet reflection in a world saturated by imagery and color. Stripped of seductive color, art has a way of revealing its skeletal framework — permitting the viewer to confront the simplicity of linear devices, composition, shading and mood.
In this juried exhibition of work representing 31 artists and 21 states, the juror's eye for photography seems evident among a wide array of media, including pen and ink, serigraph, aquatint, linocut, and mixed media. Within a modest- size gallery, most works selected are wall hung.
Black & White is the kind of intelligently chosen exhibition one expects to see at Artists Unlimited, not a an exercise in cutting-edge art, but a reminder of the memorable art created by artists across the country — artists lacking name recognition for reasons that often defy logic. Of these 35 works, photography stands out, particularly "Naples Palm," a beautiful black-and-white photo by Paul Demino Demmert of Richmond, Va. Although he injects lyrically manipulated light, his vision nevertheless projects Florida's natural beauty, akin to Clyde Butcher's documentation of our state. Two other photos, even more elegiac in tone, are James Duval's silver gelatin print, "Wickham Park No. 20," with its wedding landscape in subdued light, and Laurie Smith's black-and-white infrared photo marked by an area of intense white light. I also liked Carolyn Kossar's photographic study in which her trees, fieldstone walls and shadows convert to simple iconic symbols.
Mary Riedel's photo "Water" hovers between reality and abstracted reality, as if answering those who don't get abstraction. Here a natural element (water) hovers between what we know it is and an altered aesthetic state. It's almost abstraction.
Three works, cleverly displayed near each other, seem to tease the viewer with the question of when is a chair really a chair. Two are by Springhill artist Nita Mehnert. Her small, elegant "Pain in a Box," a three-dimensional mixed-media assemblage appears as a miniature chair. It exudes an aura of precious object because of its black silk and velvet linings. But the illusion is shattered by the presence of rusty barbed wire and glass shards. Another of her works also plays with the contradictory nature of things. In "Seat of Power," an old-fashioned washing machine complete with hand wringer presents a machine designed to ease women's work. But it's also a chair, thus social commentary with humor — a very welcome phenomenon in the feminist art dialogue. The third chair, a beautiful charcoal rendering by Richard Masters, is draped as if lamely attempting to disguise its true state.
Several other artists worthy of mention include Soon EE Ngoh, Matt Dunn for his silver gelatin print, "Girl with Aliens," and Tampa's Daniel Dew.
For those unfamiliar with Artists Unlimited, it has been an effective local model of artists' studios and gallery, an anchor in the Channelside District since 1993, when founders Genie and Bill White hoped that other galleries would follow. Now a working space for 27 artists with 24/7 access to their studios, the facility also offers networking, teaching possibilities, and a commitment to continue nationally juried shows. Assistant Director Rose Vergara-Smith reports that Artist Unlimited's first annual printmaking exhibition, scheduled for August 2001, will include international artists.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2001.