Strangefolks

Skirt Gallery presentation lives up to its name

By Maria LaCreta

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The point of this show is that these painters have something they want to discuss. The gallery talks about the psychology of these paintings, and among these three painters the cohesive tape surely is that psychological element, though more specifically they all have a definitive figurative and humanizing element. This lets us in a little longer to peruse around in their "psychology" ... except for John Copeland, whose muddied vagueness hits you somewhere between dreamscape and memory -- of boys that punch on the playground but have parents back home, of isolated moments where you contemplated the power of death on a beach as a kid. Copeland's work is a bit quieter than the other two, and there is more room to navigate freely here. This was also true for his titling, which was a bit more open and poetic.

Elizabeth Huey has two paintings with a demented children's book theme unfolding in cleverly aligned and illustrative depictions of chaos that hold you with fire, wings and carefully crafted architecture. She makes great use of color and line, though something feels very unfinished in the juxtaposition between what one curator calls, "Tudor houses populated by biblical characters and medical personnel from different eras," and her execution which falls a bit short. There are many elements that make these paintings work, though my impression is that her own hand was not involved enough. I would have preferred to see more drawing and attention to edges -- and less collage -- because ultimately that is what's interesting.

Logan Grider has given much reference to painters before him with surface elements of Braque and Picasso, a palette reminiscent of Guston, and composition that reminds me of Carol Dunham. The academic background of these artists is worth mentioning, as two of them have MFA's from Yale, and one from California College of Arts and Crafts. This forced me to consider what academic painting actually is, and Grider's work was very confined to the canvas. That being said, one huge issue here is the space. Allston Skirt finagled a fair spot for each and I realize that is hard when you have limited space, but aside from Copeland, the work needs to breathe more.

What is most glaring is that each artist has a very specific, technical skill set, which ultimately keeps us from soaking in the strangeness of the show.

STRANGEFOLKS: JOHN COPELAND, LOGAN GRIDER, ELIZABETH HUEY

ALLSTON SKIRT GALLERY

65 THAYER ST. (AT HARRISON AVE.)

BOSTON

617.482.3652.

WED-SUN, 11AM-5PM

ALLSTONSKIRT.COM