Bruce Marsh and Dolores Coe boast lengthy resumes and high name recognition as Bay area artists. (For more about their involvement in the Big Draw, see this week's arts feature.) Now an exhibit at Clayton Galleries in South Tampa gives visitors an opportunity to see recent paintings by both husband and wife.
Of the two, Marsh takes a more naturalistic approach, building panoramic landscapes from confident dabs of oil paint. A palette heavy on yellows, grays and yellowish greens and blues gives his panels of Florida views in particular a sun-baked cast — with nary a sign of life in view on their alternately sandy and grassy flats. (Landscapes inspired by a recent trip to Utah, in contrast, evince a very slight, violet-induced romanticism.) For his Florida 'scapes, south Hillsborough's ongoing transition from rural to suburban territory provides the subject matter: The paintings bear witness to the upheaval of the land as planned communities prepare to take their place in the area's ecosystem.
Coe's paintings ruminate at greater length on the role played by perception and memory in our encounters with the world around us. In two striking, large-scale canvases, she makes familiar carnival rides into ghostly apparitions and sets them in fragmented landscapes assembled from patches of color. In a series of smaller paintings that incorporate photographic elements, the glittering lights of Las Vegas serve as inspiration. Imbued with lush colors, Coe's paintings suggest a rich sensory onslaught or dream that viewers won't be in a hurry to wake up from.
For more information, call 813-831-3753 or go to claytongalleries.net.
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2008.
