ART IN REVIEW.Byline: DOUGLAS FAIRFIELD Jun Kaneko Jun Kaneko is a Japanese ceramic artist living in Omaha, Nebraska in the United States. In 1942 he was born in Nagoya, Japan, where he studied painting during his high school years. : New Paintings and Sculpture, Gebert Contemporary, 558 Canyon Road, 992-1100; through Oct. 24 I wouldn't break the bank to get one of Jun Kaneko's paintings, but I sure do appreciate what he's doing. For the most part, I don't warm to his grid-like tartanscapes despite being a fan of hard-edge stuff, yet I walked away respecting the guy for his industrious efforts and the amount of time he must put in to produce each piece. At more than 9 by 7 feet, with intricate grids, it's obvious a lot of thought and labor went into each piece. That may be the reason why there are only six paintings in the show, along with three ceramic sculptures. But the spare installation is a good thing. Too many of Kaneko's untitled, outsized out·size n. 1. An unusual size, especially a very large size. 2. A garment of unusual size. adj. also out·sized Unusually large, weighty, or extensive. Adj. 1. crisscross paintings in one space might cause retinal detachment Retinal Detachment Definition Retinal detachment is movement of the transparent sensory part of the retina away from the outer pigmented layer of the retina. In other words, the moving away of the retina from the outer wall of the eyeball. in viewers -- not only because of the works' intricate patterning but because of their bright and bold colors. There are a red one, a yellow one, a black one, a milky white one, and a black and white diptych, all of which contain hints of a polychrome pol·y·chrome adj. 1. Having many or various colors; polychromatic. 2. Made or decorated in many or various colors: polychrome tiles. n. palette beneath. What at first appear to be studies in monochromatic monochromatic /mono·chro·mat·ic/ (-kro-mat´ik) 1. existing in or having only one color. 2. pertaining to or affected by monochromatic vision. 3. staining with only one dye at a time. matrices are actually works that contain multicolored underpainting In art, an underpainting is an initial layer of paint applied to a ground, which serves as a base for subsequent layers of paint. Underpaintings are often monochromatic and help to define colour values for later painting. that Kaneko overlays with a single color -- or a color and its adjacent secondary color secondary color n. A color produced by mixing two primary colors in equal proportions. See Table at color. secondary color A color produced by mixing two additive primary colors in equal proportions. on the color wheel -- to create a woven effect. I was drawn to each one simply for its saturated color (Optics) a color not diluted with white; a pure unmixed color, like those of the spectrum. See also: Saturated but found the milky white painting the most satisfying. It's the least opaque -- and the least flashy -- work in the group. What is appealing is that you can see the underpinnings of process more than in the others, and Kaneko's paintings are all about process. Just by the nature of the translucency of the white-overlay painting, you can maneuver in and out of Kaneko's minimally layered composition, but not as deeply as you may think. The allusion to depth is shallow, close to the surface -- think of a Pollock painting. The other piece that deserves a longer look is the diptych -- black on the left, white on the right -- that was executed only in horizontal bands. Without the added verticals, this piece feels softer and less rigid. Imagine two sleeping bags placed side by side adorned with horizontal stripes and you get the visual dynamic at play. Interestingly, the painting that greets you at the entry is like a demo piece, or so it seems. It's the only canvas in the show in which Kaneko has not painted over his existing infrastructure of a plaid-like grid. Reminding me of a huge swatch of shelving paper, it was my least favorite in the exhibit. Kaneko's ceramics serve as a nice visual respite from the paintings. All told, this is work that will grab your attention, and the installation is well done. -- Douglas Fairfield |
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