Comments and reviews of visual art in Saint Louis

Bruno David Gallery, Inaugural Exhibition

I recall standing on the terrace of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts a couple of years ago. Observing the naked cityscape below, I spied several buildings which had been spared the swath of the dozer. One of them, I thought, would make an excellent art gallery, owing to its location near the Pulitzer and the Contemporary. That building is now the home of the new Bruno David Gallery. Naturally, I was curious to see how it turned out and went to the grand opening.
The "Inaugural Exhibition" is a salon show with a good bit of local talent. Always nice to see the locals appreciated. The room was busy. For the most part, I was content to enjoy the artwork casually. I took a moment to study the piece (shown here) titled "Bio-Tapestry #2" by Chris Kahler. Chris happened to be standing there and noticed my interest. "What do you think?" I hate that question. There are three answers to it: I like it, I don't understand it, and Would you excuse me I have to go see a man about a dog. Fortunately, I was teetering between the first two which allowed me to engage the artist in conversation. Chris explained his work "involves the analysis of images and patterns contained within biological systems". I told him of my new found but reluctant interest in micro- biology as it has now become my daughters lifes work.
There are a number of elements which I like in this work. The color is quite fetching. The composition is nice. The subject matter has not been abstracted beyond recognition which allows one to tell his work. Also very important is his conviction of execution. From his web site: "Essential to my process of painting are risk and fluidity. Utilizing the bleeding and fusion of colors, while controlling their flow and growth, I achieve a combination of carefully rendered forms and gestural movement, creating a gracefully unpredictable web of paint." Chris Kahler web site: http://www.kahlerart.com
One other piece in the show which I would like to proclaim a fondness for: Bis/Citra by Leslie Laskey Using the simple shapes of squares and circles, an interesting compostion is developed by layering textures in colors of off white, ivory, rust, silver, gray and white all of which are set off by the perfect black frame.

The Bruno David Gallery is much larger that I expected.

posted by Rob Miller @ 11:57 AM