02/09/2020
Carl Mellor has scribed a pretty awesome review of the "Fishes Eyes" exhibit, am taking the liberty of reproducing it below. Please share widely!
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Review of “Fish Eyes: The Art of Fish” by Carl Mellor
Exhibitions at the Tech Garden tend to be wide-open affairs, and thus it’s no surprise that “Fishes Eyes: The Art of Fish” covers a lot of ground. Indeed, it has room for straight-up depiction of fish, for impressionistic views, and in a few instances, fantasy-based work.
The exhibit encompasses Arlene Abend’s bronze-and-steel sculpture, “Dottie,” and “Just Keep Swimming,” an acrylic-and-ink piece by Mary Cunningham Waltz. Trout are nicely portrayed by Sue Murphy’s watercolor and Hon Go David Robertson’s six paintings celebrating rainbow. The six aren’t diminished by a sense of sameness; each has distinct colors and background.
There are works that stand out because of an artist’s use of color. For example, lush red color lights up Jeff Allen’s “Catfish,” done in acrylic and ink on wood. In “Midnight Swim,” Terry-Lynn Cameron Arts incorporates a scorching blend of green, red, and gold. And in his acrylics portraying boats on water, Richelle Richell Castellon plays with visual impressions. He’s clearly not a figurative artist; “Seascape VI” and its companions strive to create a mood or a different point of view for familiar objects.
Beyond that, the topic of fish is an expansive one, leading to drastically different artworks. In “Something’s Fishy,” Judith Hand’s watercolor depicts a scene at an aquarium; six people stand in front of a glass barrier separating them from fish and water. Barbara Krause’s “What” communicates whimsy, as two fish consider a hook bobbing down from the surface. A third work, Katie Deakin’s acrylic, shows fish pursuing light.
In addition, viewers will find a variety of styles on display at the Tech Garden. Audrey Levinson’s imaginative “Fighting for Men” has a cubist flavor, while Kayla Cady Vaughn scores with abstract acrylic-and-pastel works. “Koi,” an acrylic by Arianna Lynch, is a fine artwork, with its delicate, shadowy portrayal of fish.
Elsewhere, other pieces pivot on artists’ flight of fancy. For example, Ryan Foster’s large acrylic depicts a steampunk octopus on a diver’s shoulder. In “Ophelia as Russalka,” done in watercolor and ink, Manda Brezichy references Russalka, a figure in Slavic folklore who’s associated with water. Then there’s “Underseas Zombie Pyramid with Yellow Submarine,” created by Steve and Emma Nyland on a journey into a fantasy realm.
“Fishes Eyes” has other interesting works: “Perch,” a mixed-media digital illustration by James P. McCampbell ; Meg Stephen’s “Clownfish,” created with ink on paper; Steven Specht’s analog collage, “Pisces Tea Party.” In that piece, humans and human figures with fish heads sit at a table.
Finally, don’t miss Audrey Levinson’s “Fishonada,” which depicts a school of fish, and Sally Stormon’s watercolor, “Fish Story.” The latter work portrays a fish sandwich, the kind typically sold in a fast-food joint. It serves to remind us that in the year 2020 fish are being harvested at an alarming, unsustainable rate.
The exhibit, a large group show like most of its predecessors at the Tech Garden, presents a variety of work, some of which relates directly to the subject at hand and some of which has a less tangible connection. Among other things, “Fish Eyes” combines a large portfolio with individual pieces that stand out. Thus, it’s a successful show.
“Fish Eyes: The Art of Fish” runs through February 28 at the Tech Garden, 235 Harrison St. in downtown Syracuse. The space is open to the public during regular office hours, nine a.m. to four p.m. Monday through Friday.
(Carl Mellor covered visual arts for the Syracuse New Times from 1994 through June, 2019 when the paper closed. He continues to write about exhibitions and artists in the Syracuse area.)
