Elizabeth Patterson (b. 1954)
159th Street, 4PM, 2009
graphite, colored pencil and solvent on Strathmore Bristol Vellum
20 x 30 inches; 50.8 x 76.2 centimeters
LSFA# 11433
Works on Paper: Selections from the Gallery
July 31 – September 19, 2015
Rainscapes burnished by way of colored pencil. Abstract patterns chronicled in india ink. Silhouettes. Informal portraits. Bands of crimson, salmon, marigold, cornflower blue, crème and charcoal and even a Pasadena Freeway sign in miniature. Despite the great variety in content and composition, each work featured in this exhibition is built from the same raw material: paper.
Though incarnated via a seemingly less durable medium – ‘in the nature of the materials’ is a particularly poignant catch phrase in the contemplation of works on paper - these artworks are each one of a kind wonders. Lorser Feitelson’s preliminary sketch for his large-scale Post-Surrealist masterwork Eternal Recurrence (1937) displays the same ambition and technical accomplishment of the painting. A 5 5/16 x 6 7/8 inch drawing (Landscape, 1919) by Janos Mattis Teutsch was composed specifically to fit the format of Der Sturm, Berlin’s legendary art and literary magazine of the early 20th century. More recently, in James Little’s 2012 study Maasi Re-construction, the artist uses raw pigment on paper to conjure the look and feel of textile.
Works by Karl Benjamin, Daniel Crews, Laurie Fendrich, Roger Kuntz, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Eugene Martin, Elizabeth Patterson, Alfredo Ramos Martinez, Jacques Villon, Richard Wilson and Francisco Zuniga are also included. The ‘hand of the artist’ is on glorious display in all.