Art Review: J. Anthony Vergona — Jay Schwartz
Besides a coffee house or restaurant, an informal gallery can provide an excellent environment for the appreciation of two-dimensional art. These places allow time for reflection and the social exchange generally discouraged, or made impossible, in a formal gallery or museum. While art work on the walls of a café may strike some as “less traditional,” it’s worth remembering that this mix has been realized before—in the Paris of the 1870s and New York of the 1950s, in two notable examples. The “gallery-café” idea is not unusual, nor does it compromise the work.
Two local art exhibitions suggest the range of artwork available to the caffeine dependent denizens of these establishments. The owners of both places—May Poppick at Emerson’s, and Brian Sheehan at the Eclectic Café—come from arts backgrounds (Poppick is a former restaurateur and painter; Sheehan has been committed to expanding the reach of the arts and visual culture). While art is for sale at both places, the money it generates is but a small part of the overall take. These progressive business people, as the saying goes, are in it for art’s sake.
In an exhibition at the Eclectic Café, J. Anthony Vergona tackles the plight of modern movements past—notably Color Field painting, Minimalism, and even Expressionism—in painted works certain to challenge and interest the viewer. The exhibition, titled The Geometry of Soul, Related Artifacts, now extended through August 15th, consists of 22 works representative of eight artistic series that have occupied this artist for nearly 25 years. His mastery of this medium is apparent in his use of airbrush and conventionally applied color (chiefly acrylic), and he even invents his own tools in order to more closely achieve a desired effect. (That Vergona comes from a construction and craft background serves his spirit’s ambition well.) However, this alone would not be sufficient to retain interest. Indeed, Vergona, clearly viewing art in relation to abstract modern art movements, is adept at the other aspects of making art, notably craft and historical reference.
Consider for example, “The Greeting” (Color series). Vergona here connects the hand of the skilled sign-board painter to the craftsmanship—heightened palette—of Fauve art. “The Greeting” is a wild scene, in which a looming orange sun-like presence breaks over a scattered, cartoonish landscape.
Interesting, too, is Vergona’s themes-and-variations approach to the Modernist-shaped canvas. “Changeling” (Paramount series) is one of Vergona’s most exquisite pieces. A cool, matte lacquer-like finish contrasts with the aggressive triangular shapes of the support. The tonal character of the butterfly-shaped painted surface, cool sky blues and smoke greys, gives way to the crisp black of a cosmic nebula, contrasting with the handling of the upper left, where the image suggests the artist’s dialogue with the traditional formula.
“The Storm” (Blackfield series) is another example of the artist’s dialogue with traditional formulas. The reality presented is not a friendly landscape, but a fragmentary view, perhaps of the Angry Planet—all mad orange with topographic impulses of acid red and green.
“Daughter of the Moon” (Blue series) presents typically shaped forms; the coloring conveys at once a sense of twilight and atmosphere.
Jay Schwartz, a Santa Barbara-based painter, shows sixteen works in watercolor and charcoal at Emerson’s (13203 Ventura Blvd., Studio City). “Hope in Color” focuses on the female torso, shown from above the waist to just below the shoulder, intimately and naturalistically colored. The work is reminiscent of an Expressionism complicated by layered figures—at least three are suggested, grouped in an interaction suggesting a “primitive” mode of cubism. Schwartz, a recent UCSB graduate of 23, demonstrates considerable energetic potential.
The still lifes on view at Emerson’s suggest a developmental process and growing ambition. In “Still Life: Two,” two vessels are shown in profile from slightly above, a diagonal element dividing the canvas into two virtual halves. Further works in the series reveal Schwartz’s increasing control over the genre—the arrangement is refined and the view of the represented objects more certain and realistic. We look forward to more from this painter.♦