Loading...
September 30, 1993 - Focus on Nature: Autumn Dawn20 Perspectives Ferren Show at Pollock- Krasner By Robert Long The Pollock- Krasner House and Study Center, on Springs - Fireplace Road in East Hampton, is about halfway through its three -month-long exhibition of the earlier works of John Ferren. The Pollock - Krasner House is one of three museums showing works from different periods in the artist's career. The Uni- versity Art Gallery at the State Univer- sity at Stony Brook is showing Ferren's nature-based abstractions of the 1950s, and the Godwin- Ternbach Museum of Queens College is exhibiting the artist's hard-edged abstract paintings from the last decade of his life. "Formative Years: The 1930s in Paris and Spain" is the name of the Pollock - Krasner House's part of the overall show (all three exhibits were curated by Helen Harrison, director of Pollock - Krasner, and all are running concur- rently). There are 15 works on view, in- cluding nine oils on canvas or board, several watercolors, and a woodcut. John Ferren was born in 1905 and grew up in various Western states (his father worked for the Indian Service). After high school, he worked for the tele- phone company and did some stone- carving. It wasn't until this time, when he was in his early 20s, that Mr. Ferren took up painting seriously. He traveled from California to Paris in 1929 with money earned from carving decorative stonework, and, after returning to the U.S. for a period, went back to Paris in 1931 and stayed there for eight years. This is the period covered by the cur- rent show. In Paris, Mr. Ferren met Picasso (he helped to stretch the canvas for "Guern- ica"), Mondrian, Mire, and Helion, among others, and he soon became in- terested in the classical abstraction of the period. Although the artist's work belongs, if one can say that it "belongs" to any particular "movement," to the phenomenon of Abstract Expression. ism, Mr. Ferren himself seems to have been by nature far more thoughtful than impulsive. Like his contemporaries, he rejected "subject matter "; he was interested in the unconscious and its role in the crea- tive process, but it was characteristic of him to value precision and craft in his work. There is never a sloppy moment in a Ferren picture; even when he uses gesture, the brushstroke seems a record of the concept of a gesture —a realized idea —rather than an emotional slash of paint. In Arts Magazine, he once wrote that "my own (fatal ?) impulse is toward clarification." It is, however, the tension between the artist's desire for clarity —for direct communication —and the mode in which he worked, abstraction, which is by def- inition a dissociation from anything specific —that lends his best work its considerable power. The works on view at the Pollock - Krasner House, while sometimes re- vealing the artist's youthful debt to in- fluences like Mondrian and Kandinsky, are nonetheless singular achievements. Mr. Ferren's use of biomorphic images combined with hard arcs, and his inter- est in the uses of space and depth in ab- stract compositions are typical of modernists of the day, but even at this John Ferren's "Study on Blue" is included in the current show at the Pol lock - Krasner House. early stage in his career the canvases are evidence of a great deal of thought, and on occasion we sense the craftsman's firm control over his med- ium banging up against raw impulse. In person, pictures that look perfectly flat in photographs often turn out to have surfaces that are subtly textured. The largest picture in the show, "Com- position" (193437; 42 by 64 inches), for example, includes a wonderful passage in which Mr. Ferren mixes sand into his pigment before applying it to carefully cutout shapes of canvas which he then glues on top of the main canvas. The re- sult is that the picture, which is largely occupied by deep red, mysterious bio- morphic shapes that present us with all sorts of riddles about depth in a rela- tively shallow picture plane, is almost perversely thrust into a whole different space by the more heavily textured, more dramatically chromatic shapes of glued -on canvas. Yet there is, as always in Mr. Ferren's work, perfect balance in the picture; the relative wildness of the small, sandpaper -like area is held in check by the sheer size and the rela- tively benign quality of the rest of the image. The beautiful "Green Abstraction" (1933, 23 by 35 inches) is a less adven- turous picture, although the artist is again playing with texture. Yellow arcs, planet -like pink orbs, and waves of lilac Boat in or zip across a field of softly con- toured seas of two different greens. Here and there the artist swipes Xs in the paint with what literally appears to have been a comb; he "combs out" the color, ordering it into neat little furrows that, from a distance, lend a delicate, veil-like quality. This picture, with a central sphere that strongly suggests the moon or sun in eclipse (a pink eclipse), and with most of the image enclosed in two big yellow arcs like parentheses, is the uni- verse of abstraction and color accord- ing to Ferren as he heads off from Kandinsky into other directions. In an untitled canvas from 1933 -34, Mr. Ferren builds texture dramatically by building up his paint merely a tad more heavily in the central, hot, brick - red area of the abstract image, and by Where Do You Go for All the Gay Goings -On on the East End You Go to -- • • East End Gay Organization For information on upcoming social events, educational or political forums & cultural activities call 324.3699 or write: EEGO, Box 708, Bridgehampton, N.Y. 11932 {�nmptan Sq. G1112117 Artist Reception Sat. Oct. 2, 8 -10 p.m. Shelly Bartolinl - Large Abstracts Robert De Carlo - Designer Furniture 8 Additional Artists - 7 Additional Rooms B Beach Road Westhampton Beach, New York 516- 288 -8064 keeping the surface smooth at the edges of the image. He is a calculating painter, and such decisions, which would carry little or no weight in the work of some of his more melodramatic colleagues, here seem extraordinary. The small (9 by 13) "Study on Blue" is an oil on pressed board of great paint- erly delicacy: two larger forms, each containing intricate small shapes, are perfectly balanced, suspended in a void of grayish -blue. In "Mallorca" (1932, 22 by 36), two central forms, suggesting a fish inside another fish, inhabit a flat abstract field in which also appear a black sun with a dark gray corona and a big inverted pink pyramid that literally holds down the image; never has pink seemed such a heavy color. Everything hinges on this central form, without which the scat- tered nonreferential shapes would seem merely arbitrary. "Sea Forms" is a 1937 woodcut of great delicacy —it's hard not to overuse the word "delicacy" when talking about these pictures —that says a great deal about the artist's eye for textures and how the two can work together. The earliest work in the show, "Paris Yellow" (1932, 22 by 36), is also one of the most beautiful. A pale rectangle of yellow-ocher, it is sparsely populated by a floating carpet of bright yellow, a door -like shape, and odd, elongated forms that are like surfboards, or tri- bal shields, or exclamation points. They seem to prefigure the mysterious elon- gated shapes that would often enter very late Ferren pictures. The catalogue to all three Ferren shows, which are called, as a whole, "The Abstract Spirit: John Ferren," in- cluding an introduction by Irving San- dler and an excellent essay on Ferren by Ann Gibson., is available at the Pollock- Krasner House; be sure to get one when you visit. It includes a num- ber of insightful and sometimes very funny quotes from the artist's writings (In an article spoofing academic Action Painting, Ferren claimed that it had "a certain speed limit- -325 miles per hour ") as well as good reproductions of several pictures. The Pollock - Krasner House and Study Center is open by appointment only (324 4929) Thursdays through Sundays from 11 to 4. The John Ferren show runs un- til October 30. Don't miss it. Last Week's Solution O E LAN 0 1 E N A ry- "East of —" A T T A N 0 ix N 0 0 55 - -do -well VANS ai ✓.,, E N O 8 C sphere lead -in a M O M E N F A John Ferren's "Study on Blue" is included in the current show at the Pol lock - Krasner House. early stage in his career the canvases are evidence of a great deal of thought, and on occasion we sense the craftsman's firm control over his med- ium banging up against raw impulse. In person, pictures that look perfectly flat in photographs often turn out to have surfaces that are subtly textured. The largest picture in the show, "Com- position" (193437; 42 by 64 inches), for example, includes a wonderful passage in which Mr. Ferren mixes sand into his pigment before applying it to carefully cutout shapes of canvas which he then glues on top of the main canvas. The re- sult is that the picture, which is largely occupied by deep red, mysterious bio- morphic shapes that present us with all sorts of riddles about depth in a rela- tively shallow picture plane, is almost perversely thrust into a whole different space by the more heavily textured, more dramatically chromatic shapes of glued -on canvas. Yet there is, as always in Mr. Ferren's work, perfect balance in the picture; the relative wildness of the small, sandpaper -like area is held in check by the sheer size and the rela- tively benign quality of the rest of the image. The beautiful "Green Abstraction" (1933, 23 by 35 inches) is a less adven- turous picture, although the artist is again playing with texture. Yellow arcs, planet -like pink orbs, and waves of lilac Boat in or zip across a field of softly con- toured seas of two different greens. Here and there the artist swipes Xs in the paint with what literally appears to have been a comb; he "combs out" the color, ordering it into neat little furrows that, from a distance, lend a delicate, veil-like quality. This picture, with a central sphere that strongly suggests the moon or sun in eclipse (a pink eclipse), and with most of the image enclosed in two big yellow arcs like parentheses, is the uni- verse of abstraction and color accord- ing to Ferren as he heads off from Kandinsky into other directions. In an untitled canvas from 1933 -34, Mr. Ferren builds texture dramatically by building up his paint merely a tad more heavily in the central, hot, brick - red area of the abstract image, and by Where Do You Go for All the Gay Goings -On on the East End You Go to -- • • East End Gay Organization For information on upcoming social events, educational or political forums & cultural activities call 324.3699 or write: EEGO, Box 708, Bridgehampton, N.Y. 11932 {�nmptan Sq. G1112117 Artist Reception Sat. Oct. 2, 8 -10 p.m. Shelly Bartolinl - Large Abstracts Robert De Carlo - Designer Furniture 8 Additional Artists - 7 Additional Rooms B Beach Road Westhampton Beach, New York 516- 288 -8064 keeping the surface smooth at the edges of the image. He is a calculating painter, and such decisions, which would carry little or no weight in the work of some of his more melodramatic colleagues, here seem extraordinary. The small (9 by 13) "Study on Blue" is an oil on pressed board of great paint- erly delicacy: two larger forms, each containing intricate small shapes, are perfectly balanced, suspended in a void of grayish -blue. In "Mallorca" (1932, 22 by 36), two central forms, suggesting a fish inside another fish, inhabit a flat abstract field in which also appear a black sun with a dark gray corona and a big inverted pink pyramid that literally holds down the image; never has pink seemed such a heavy color. Everything hinges on this central form, without which the scat- tered nonreferential shapes would seem merely arbitrary. "Sea Forms" is a 1937 woodcut of great delicacy —it's hard not to overuse the word "delicacy" when talking about these pictures —that says a great deal about the artist's eye for textures and how the two can work together. The earliest work in the show, "Paris Yellow" (1932, 22 by 36), is also one of the most beautiful. A pale rectangle of yellow-ocher, it is sparsely populated by a floating carpet of bright yellow, a door -like shape, and odd, elongated forms that are like surfboards, or tri- bal shields, or exclamation points. They seem to prefigure the mysterious elon- gated shapes that would often enter very late Ferren pictures. The catalogue to all three Ferren shows, which are called, as a whole, "The Abstract Spirit: John Ferren," in- cluding an introduction by Irving San- dler and an excellent essay on Ferren by Ann Gibson., is available at the Pollock- Krasner House; be sure to get one when you visit. It includes a num- ber of insightful and sometimes very funny quotes from the artist's writings (In an article spoofing academic Action Painting, Ferren claimed that it had "a certain speed limit- -325 miles per hour ") as well as good reproductions of several pictures. The Pollock - Krasner House and Study Center is open by appointment only (324 4929) Thursdays through Sundays from 11 to 4. The John Ferren show runs un- til October 30. Don't miss it. Last Week's Solution JI J J U.S. CUSTOMS SEIZED 111A>iS Handmade oriental rugs, acquired at U. S. Customs Service support division auction in New Jersey seizure #88130300514, and multi -bale seizure # 91130300193 with rugs acquired by liquidation auction of Newton Oriental Rug Fair, Inc. in Boston, MA plus others will be liquidated. EACH RUG IS PROVIDED WITH ITS OWN CERTIFICATE. Including certified hand made Oriental Rugs from China, India. Tran (Persia), Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan &more. Sizee',.- :. semi- antiques &Kilims Situ : Suit. only, Oct. 3, at the THE SOUTHAMPTON PRESS 1 SEPTEMBER 30, 1993 Weekly Crossword Puzzle Edited by James C. Boldt and Joyce Nichols Lewis "GRANAMA ITEM" By Nancy Scandrett Ross ACROSS 1 Nomadic northlander 5 Obstruct 8 "La Dolce 1960 film 12 Excel 17 Vilification 19 Met show- stopper 20 Take — leave it 21 Equipped like a scull 22 Anagram of INDICATORY 24 Anagram of VICE CONSUL 26 Senorita's chaperon 27 Missing 29 Hull stabilizer 30 Dapper fellow 31 Hon. degrees 32 Recovery money 34 Friday's creator 36 "La Fille — gardee ": Ashton ballet 37 Long time 38 Very, in Vichy 40 Sky bear 42 Anagram of COAGULATE 45 Anagram of CREDENTIAL 49 Madame's affirmative 50 Part of QED 51 Aquarium fish 53 Clytemnestra's mother 54 Like a fork 56 Clay, later 57 Architectural borders 59 Composer Rorem 60 Rajah's wife 61 Border on 62 Changes a dinner placing 64 Chicago - Bangor vector 66 Anagram of GRANDEE 69 Adjective - forming suffix 70 Belt or sash 73 Became still 74 Form of will 78 Cob's mate 79 Dry periods 81 Maestro De Waart 82 Franklin's wife 84 Former theater org. 86 Containing accessible ore 88 To —: precisely 89 Goddess, in Roma 90 Anagram of DECORATION 92 Anagram of STATESIDE 94 Wheel shaft 95 Departed 97 " -- Pinafore" 98 Envelope abbr. 99 Greek order 102 "The Comedy of Errors" twin 104 Amb. 106 Wine -bottle word 108 Privy to 110 Stravinsky 111 Peninsular Asians 113 Anagram of MAINTAINED 116 Anagram of SUPERSONIC 119 Soviet peasant's cooperative 120 Spirit 121 Love god O E LAN 0 1 E N A C T "East of —" A T T A N 0 0 0 A C N 0 0 C N 0 0 55 - -do -well VANS N A N E N O 8 C sphere lead -in a M O M E N F A L S E pr�cV E N A V E N 0 B A N A N A 8 92 Writer William 125 Brit. decoration M 1 0 1 T S A E L P A 8 0 Harry' I 0 8 1 N T N E M 0 0 N L I G N T 65 Varnish resin T E F E T E S V I E a 1 0 T .IE S S T I R S A L S E N 0 0 JI J J U.S. CUSTOMS SEIZED 111A>iS Handmade oriental rugs, acquired at U. S. Customs Service support division auction in New Jersey seizure #88130300514, and multi -bale seizure # 91130300193 with rugs acquired by liquidation auction of Newton Oriental Rug Fair, Inc. in Boston, MA plus others will be liquidated. EACH RUG IS PROVIDED WITH ITS OWN CERTIFICATE. Including certified hand made Oriental Rugs from China, India. Tran (Persia), Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan &more. Sizee',.- :. semi- antiques &Kilims Situ : Suit. only, Oct. 3, at the THE SOUTHAMPTON PRESS 1 SEPTEMBER 30, 1993 Weekly Crossword Puzzle Edited by James C. Boldt and Joyce Nichols Lewis "GRANAMA ITEM" By Nancy Scandrett Ross ACROSS 1 Nomadic northlander 5 Obstruct 8 "La Dolce 1960 film 12 Excel 17 Vilification 19 Met show- stopper 20 Take — leave it 21 Equipped like a scull 22 Anagram of INDICATORY 24 Anagram of VICE CONSUL 26 Senorita's chaperon 27 Missing 29 Hull stabilizer 30 Dapper fellow 31 Hon. degrees 32 Recovery money 34 Friday's creator 36 "La Fille — gardee ": Ashton ballet 37 Long time 38 Very, in Vichy 40 Sky bear 42 Anagram of COAGULATE 45 Anagram of CREDENTIAL 49 Madame's affirmative 50 Part of QED 51 Aquarium fish 53 Clytemnestra's mother 54 Like a fork 56 Clay, later 57 Architectural borders 59 Composer Rorem 60 Rajah's wife 61 Border on 62 Changes a dinner placing 64 Chicago - Bangor vector 66 Anagram of GRANDEE 69 Adjective - forming suffix 70 Belt or sash 73 Became still 74 Form of will 78 Cob's mate 79 Dry periods 81 Maestro De Waart 82 Franklin's wife 84 Former theater org. 86 Containing accessible ore 88 To —: precisely 89 Goddess, in Roma 90 Anagram of DECORATION 92 Anagram of STATESIDE 94 Wheel shaft 95 Departed 97 " -- Pinafore" 98 Envelope abbr. 99 Greek order 102 "The Comedy of Errors" twin 104 Amb. 106 Wine -bottle word 108 Privy to 110 Stravinsky 111 Peninsular Asians 113 Anagram of MAINTAINED 116 Anagram of SUPERSONIC 119 Soviet peasant's cooperative 120 Spirit 121 Love god 16 Stembeck's 52 Anagram of 87 Assist with 122 Liquid- heating "East of —" DIALECT help vessels 18 Cheese coat 55 - -do -well 88 Meter or 123 Wailing 19 Collection 56 Playwright sphere lead -in laments 23 Off Burrows 91 Repudiations 124 Transmit counterparts 58 Marine plant 92 Writer William 125 Brit. decoration 25 "Light -Horse 61 Ductless gland L. and family 126 Monster, in Harry' 63 Dwarf buffalo 93 Thickly applied Madrid 28 Int. jet 65 Varnish resin paint 32 Resounding 67 Brood of 96 Dress, with DOWN defeat pheasants "up" 1 Hallucinogenic 33 — Park: Edison 68 Grandfather of 100 Hostelry monogram locale Brit. Chas. 101 Sheep 2 Surrounded by 35 Spoken 70 Columbus' sheds 3 Anagram of 36 Irish Mary birthplace 103 Engine - UNPOETICAL 37 Wodehouse 71 Anagram of powered bike 4 Kneecap expletive EXCITATION 104 Fam. member 5 Bikini part 39 Marked with an 72 Name for a 105 Fraulein's name 6 Skyway asterisk colleen 106 Pierre's at. 7 Viscose fabric. 41 Yellow -fever 75 Anagram of 107 Emerald Isle 8 Albert's wife mosquito ENDURINGLY 109 Shade of 9 Skater Midori 42 Pub. footnote 76 Loamy deposit green 10 Honky — 43 Arthurian tales, 77 Mild oath 111 Roast hosts, 11 Curving e.g. 78 Lobbyists' org, for short 12 Expressive of 44 Bauxite or 80 Filled to excess 112 Fly high deep feeling pitchblende 82 Hot times, 114 "The — ": 13 Owns 46 Perry's in Aix Brando movie 14 Anagram of creator 83 Salonga of 115 Indian bread INDISCREET 47 Della of jazz "Miss Saigon" 117 Kanga's 15 St. Petersburg's 48 Mom's partner 85 Woody's child river 51 Aspersion son 118 Adm.'s aide MEMO Tortorella 4 _h _J Swimming Pools Inc. © IN EMMN C� HAMPTON BAYS • 728 -8600 fALL..STORE HOU - MON.-FRI. 8 AM - 5 PM; EMBER SAT. 8 AM - 4 PM MENEM Boom ®o■■ ®omom BEENE MEMO ®omm®mmoom ® #NEE■ ®O®■ ®■o■ ®ON MEN ®■N mood HOME MENOMONEE MEMO ME MEMO also MEMO ®®m■om■ MOON ®E■ ®� ■M ®■N OMEN ®1111101 w■■m■ NONE BONN No Ron A■E■EWI■ RO EM■MMOM Boom Boman ONE NINON ONE BRENNEN NONE EM■1B■M BONE MEN w■■■o.■■■■ w■■■■o■■■. OMEN MEMO MEN OEM MM■ 11® MENNEN ®®N■ WE MEMO ■ENo UNION ® MEMO ®M®MEMINNE® ®OMEN NONE NONE MENEM ®E■■- -®ONE won wool ©1993 Los Angeles Times Syndicate Focus on Nature: Autumn Dawn By Paul Stoutenburgh The world has not awakened as yet. Only a noisy cricket chirps in the kit- chen as I fumble to dress. I walk with bare feet out on the deck. To the east, there's a soft, almost pinkish-orange tint to the sky. Dew has painted all with tiny droplets. Not even a gull is stirring as yet. They haven't risen from their night's rest out on the sheltered bay. Now to the east it is becoming brighter and brighter — pink, low on the horizon. The sky above is trying to turn to its blue of the day. A light zephyr has started to move in. A boat anchored off the beach acts as a weather vane, pointing into the slight- est breeze, always testing the line that holds her firm at anchor. Three gulls fly by. Two shore birds swoop in from nowhere to light, their breakfast lies hidden in the sand at the moving water's edge. Barely visible, they run along the beach, poking here and there as their hunger drives them on. Most likely, at this time of the year, they've been flying all night migrating from their northern nesting grounds in the barren tundra. Their final destina- tion is somewhere in the wet edges of the Caribbean. A song sparrow lets us know she is still around with her ever - changing pleasant song. She, too, is hungry and works her way through the wet grasses, seeking out the tiny seeds of the ripen- ing plants that have already been scat- tered by the wind. A little farther up the beach, a hungry gull is wading along the water's edge —food is the name of the game of survival. Three mourning doves fly by. They are off to an open field up back where the rye has been harvested. Some of the kernels will have been missed and they'll be there to reap the harvest. Pinkish -white dominates the horizon. A swallow with its swept -back wings and forked tail starts the journey into its all -day pursuit of flying insects. Its quick change of direction tells me it has picked up something. An insect that thought it had just another summer's day ahead is gone. Two crows arrive at the beach, letting everyone know they are in command. Perhaps the sunbathers of yesterday left a morsel or two for their early morn- ing meal. The clouds that were fluffs of gray have now taken on a creamy white. The sun now slides behind a low- hanging cloud for a short period as it is ever moving up, up, up. Its brilliance casts a silver - yellow edge on the dark cloud. Now it pokes its orange-domed head out and its sparkling path leads from the beach edge across the bay to its maker. The sky turns blue above. The yellow - orange of the sun starts to take its dom- inant place in the sky where it will rule all day. From in back an osprey calls with its harsh pitched "Chirp chirp chirp." An- other hangs in midair over the bay, pumping its wings as it focuses on a fish below. Soon it will plummet to hit its mark of menhaden. The day has started for most wild things. It has barely started for most people. A few lights have come on in the houses, showing some must be up to go to work. They will see only the light of another nice day, not knowing tha( before "their beautiful day" there was' an awakening that only few have seen. By now an hour has passed. From the cool of the beginning to the warming rays of the rising sun, I have watched one of our beautiful late summer days unfold. I hear stirring inside the cabin and dishes clattering in the kitchen —. breakfast will soon be ready. Of course, . we'll eat right here on the deck, where the day has started with its golden path. across the bay. NOW THAT THE WEATHER IS COOLER... a Y", h .. -, MM ARE THE ANSWER FOR WARMER RELAXATION AQUATIC OFF I N D U 5 T R I E S Regular low Prices 'ft SPA SHOWROOM * DUPONT ACRYLIC SHELL • SOLID BRAZILIAN MAHOGANY SKIRT • THERMO -PANE INSULATION • 6 KW HEATER CONTROL • 1.5 HP PUMP - 2 SPEED • 1 HP BLOWER • EQUIPMENT FREEZE PROTECTION • 25 SQ. FT. TOP LOAD FILTER /FEEDER • STAINLESS STEEL GRAB BARS • 7 TO 14 HYDROTHERAPY MASSAGE JETS Tortorella 4 _h _J Swimming Pools Inc. 296 West Montauk Hwy. ULUt west of King Kullen) C� HAMPTON BAYS • 728 -8600 fALL..STORE HOU - MON.-FRI. 8 AM - 5 PM; SAT. 8 AM - 4 PM