Black Rock, Red Rock, 2003
acrylic on canvas
54 x 54 inches
Louis Stern Fine Arts is pleased to present Contemporary Vistas – New Work by June Harwood. The exhibition opens on Saturday, January 15 with a reception for the artist from 6-9pm and continues through Saturday, February 26, 2005.
June Harwood has traded in her vividly hued geometrics for the provocative ambiguity of deftly shaded semi-landscapes. Though Harwood’s previous identity was forged by her involvement with the “hard edge” painters of the mid fifties and early sixties, her current work, executed between 2002-2004, articulates an entirely new dynamic.
Created with meticulous layering and over-painting, the work suggests all manner of moody landscapes. Brooding grey-green forms hover, cloudlike, above a deep purple landmass. Feathery brush strokes capture the feel of scruffy vegetation against a deftly textured terrain. The horizon swoops in and out of the canvasses, dividing the space in unexpected and powerful ways.
Despite the vigorous geometry that persists in these new knowing compositions, the sensibility beneath the vistas is not nearly so edgy as it is minimalist. All the show-stopping impersonal mathematics of the artist’s previous painting has been submerged into a richly textured distinctly personal abstraction.
Ms. Harwood’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout Southern California. This marks her initial exhibition with Louis Stern Fine Arts.