Two Coats of Paint: Lisa Beck: So-called opposites

by Carl E Hazlewood

“I am attracted to related visual phenomena like positive and negative, pattern and randomness, color and grayscale, flatness and depth, representation and abstraction. I always want to go in different directions at the same time and much of my work has involved trying to find ways to integrate these so-called opposites.”

In her first solo exhibition at Elizabeth Dee Gallery, Lisa Beck presents a new series of paintings that feature two humble geometric forms: the circle and the line. For Beck, simplifying forms multiplies potential meanings. For instance, a line might suggest a path, a divider, a horizon, a floor, or a ceiling. The circles and lines are rendered in vivid color, some with an underpainted layer of metallic aluminum leaf, that gives the images a shimmery appearance, like moonlight over the ocean. But for Beck,who has titled the show “Rising and Falling,” the fascination lies in creating a thoughtful, and melancholic, ambiguity. The paintings depict the moment in which we watch and wait, unsure of what is to come.

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February 13, 2017