Hunter Clarke, Mark V Turner & Michael Kalmbach in the April Loop

Walking up the steps of the Mezzanine Gallery of the city’s Carvel Building, I was greeted by a small girl pushing her head through a gap in the railing and calling, “I can see you, Mommy!” I could not see who greeted her, but it was Hunter Clarke, the artist whose exhibit Aerial was opening in the Mezzanine Gallery. She had created a work especially for the small space with high ceilings: strips of vellum painted with bright acrylic silhouettes of predatory birds and what I thought were wolves, but Clarke, who seems to be an animal buff, said, “Actually, they are African dogs.” The piece is entitled Into the woods, 2010 and I hope it gets a new home after this exhibit ends on April 30. Pictured above top is an enlarged version of one of the many very small paintings Clarke grouped in nines. Clarke used bright colors to feature many animals in this exhibit – some acting on their natural predatory instincts, some enduring their fate, and some facing the viewer with a steely stare.

Was delighted by Mark V Turner’s exhibit of acrylic on paneling at the Wilmington Institute. Turner is a member of Delaware by Hand. (See 1/24/10 blog). Visiting artists tried to figure out how he achieved the tactile feel of layers and three dimensional illusion with acrylics. Turner’s vivid portrayals of doors in New Orleans have purples and other outrageous colors which blend into a realistic imagery.

Spectrum: contemporary color abstraction (open until August 1) left me with more questions than answers. I read that curation of this exhibit was started by Carina Evangelista (who is no longer at DCCA). Some local artists were included and others were selected in another way….open competition? Well worth seeing, in particular, Michael Kalmbach’s work on outdoor carpet wrapped in clear plastic and decorated with an abstract of acrylic and chains of dots. Second picture.

See http://www.hunterartist.com/.
See http://www.artsdel.org/.
See http://www.delawarebyhand.org/.
See http://www.markvturner.com/.