Continuing through November 6, 2010
Although the Light and Space movement that emerged in Los Angeles in the 1960s is no longer "new," the pieces in "New School Cool" illustrate that it is still exceedingly "cool." True to form, DeWain Valentine's recent "Skyline" pieces are atmospheric in mood. But, rather than being sculptural, they are more suggestive of paintings. Each construction has a slot cut in a large panel that is attached to a backing-box. It feels like something should be in that slot, something that slides back and forth. The dearth of color - he goes for only the most subtle tints - and the emptiness created by the slot elicit thoughts more about what is not there than what is seen.
Eric Johnson's abstract forms are less ethereal. Both "Madame X Marble" and "Pinkie on the Bob" twist fluidly and symmetrically. The muted red, gray and off-white mottled surface of the former brings to mind the texture of sinewy muscles; the monochromatic black installs a simple elegance on the latter. Peering into the depths of the deep blue of "Andre" prompts reminders of dark Arctic water beneath the ice cap.
Scott White Contemporary Art
