Paul Hansen

Art Gallery Review

I viewed a series of artwork titled Rain on Window at VCU’s Anderson Gallery. These were all done with colored pencil on paper courtesy of the artist (not mentioned so I’m assuming it may be Kent) and Kent Gallery, New York. These pieces of art have all been created in a way to render a realistic 3-dimensional image, using a variation of blue colors. Much of the art is not completely colored in but the use of closely placed vertical lines (reminds me of color pixels used for computer printouts) helps add texture to the art. You can see all the detail up close but standing 8-10 feet away will give the art a lot of depth (and it looks colored in from farther away), which was probably the intended effect.

Rain on Window I (2001-2) is the lightest one in color, as the top is mostly white with light markings of blue to display a clear window with some accentuated raindrops falling down. Further down, it darkens from a medium blue to a darker, navy blue. The darker blue used at the bottom half of the drawing strongly contrasts with the white color of the paper. It isn’t nearly as blended in to provide the texture that the rest of the piece displays. The result is that it looks like something that merely hasn’t been colored in (maybe including discrete amounts of another shade of blue would have helped). The bright track lighting really makes the top of the drawing seem illuminated and iridescent due to the better blending of colors, while it makes the bottom stand out like a sore thumb.

The second drawing in the series was similar to the first one. Rain on Window II (2002) is also lighter at the top with shining white light coming down from the top, this time at varying angles. At the bottom, the artist uses the same navy blue but makes it even darker by obviously pressing harder on the colored pencil. While the concepts of blending and creating texture are much improved for this piece, there is a lack of consistency (at least in my mind) throughout. Some parts where the navy blue is used, instead of vertical lines, the artist uses thatches (criss-crosses), which create a much more filled-in and textured appearance. This method with the dark blue was also used to give depth and a very 3-dimensional quality to the white/clear raindrops, making the center of the drawing look really neat. However, there are certain parts where the vertical lines are used and the effect of depth is lost due to the obvious contrast of blue on white, particularly towards the bottom.

The third and final piece of this series was the darkest of all. Rain on Window III (2002) uses the vertical line technique on virtually all of the background again creating an overdramatic contrast. This is most apparent towards the bottom, particularly on the right where there is not much water, mostly background. The very top starts out fairly light and darkens immediately after the top third of the drawing. Instead of exclusively using rain droplets, the artist creates a bubbled, cascade of water (although it appears upside-down like an inverted funnel). Within the bubbles/froth, the artist uses the much more appropriate hatching technique creating water that looks quite realistic and can be described as looking like long and skinny clouds intertwined forming a maze. It looks very intricate with the blend of blue colors up close and looks even better while standing back.

Regardless of some of the problems I had with the series of artwork, it was still very diverse and should still be appreciated. I’ll end with a quote that was listed in the room displaying the art as it can probably allow for a more thorough introspection than I could provide:

"The play of illumination and reflection, the meeting of hard glass and flowing water, the sensation of light prismatically filtering through – all these intended effects are exquisitely achieved and the images speak of both mourning and renewal."

- Raphael Rubinstein, Catologue Essayist