Improvisational Geometry
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Elizabeth Harris Gallery has opened an exhibition of paintings by New York City-based artist and writer Mario Naves.
“After pursuing collage for twenty years, Naves has shifted to painting directly on canvas and panel with acrylics and oils,” says the gallery. “Naves’s improvisatory process remains unchanged, as does the underlying structural logic of his pictures. What is markedly different is the degree of surface finish, vibrant tonal palette and quirky equipoise of his spare geometric compositions.
“Each image is arrived at through the layering of shapes, lines and colors. Pictorial relationships, once stated, are subsequently altered, negated, tweaked and redefined. Flux is an inherent component of Naves’s process—the paintings are worked on for weeks and sometimes months. The resulting pieces are simultaneously clarified and open-ended, earnestly felt and welcoming of caprice.”
Also on view at the gallery are paintings by Brett Baker.
“Mario Naves: Recent Paintings” runs through February 2 at Elizabeth Harris Gallery, 529 West 20th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues, 212-463-9666, eharrisgallery.com.
Franklin Einspruch blogs about art at Artblog.net.
