Small Geometries

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The sculptures of Kevin Finklea (in the Project Room at Thatcher Projects through April 17) and the paintings of Helen Miranda Wilson (in the back gallery recently at Lori Bookstein Fine Art) share some lovely commonalities. Both bodies of work are small, they were not the main shows in either gallery (though in my opinion, they dominated), both share the block or rectangle as means and end, and both employ color with subtlety and, well, bravado.

Kevin Finklea: Installation view at Thatcher Projects

The small sculpture at bottom left is shown below in two views:

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Above and below: Bryant Street, 1961

Finklea’s painted sculptures are terse in the best possible way. They say everything they need to with an economy of expression, like haiku (or maybe even telepathy). Luscious wood converses with sumptuous color, each perfectly smooth, perfectly crafted surfaces; color carries on a quiet dialog with itself about value and intensity.
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Above and below: Free Falling Divisions #9, 2010

I couldn’t get very good shots of the installation, but you can see better images on the gallery website.

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Helen Miranda Wilson: Installation view at Lori Bookstein Fine Art

I’ve written about Wilson’s work before (here and here), so I’ll just say that her compositional building blocks are squares of color that pull you in, like Alice into the rabbit hole. The diminutive paintings expand, expand, expand in your consciousness, so that it is you who become small. Heady. And just about every damn one of them had a red dot.

Village, 2008, oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches
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Fall of Night, 2009, oil on panel, 8 x 8 inches

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