Art Critic

Women artists work abstraction in mixed media
By Art Critic: Claudia Rousseau
Press Gazette Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Recent paintings by Shara Banisadr of Kensington, born and raised in Teheran, are on view in the Visions Exhibition Space in the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. The brainchild of the Public Arts Trust, with the support of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, the space, opened just last year, is ‘‘dedicated to exhibiting the diverse imagery and ideas of Montgomery County artists.”

Unfortunately, it is really no more than a slightly modified hotel corridor, with some suspended halogen lighting and a hanging system along the walls. With its noble intent, and prime location, this could have been a great place to exhibit. Regrettably, however, no allowance was made in this area for a neutral décor against which art works should be seen. The red, blue and yellow carpet, with its intensely bright optical patterning, and the ochre patterned wallpaper are antithetical to this purpose. The problem has not gone unnoticed by those who worked hard to establish the space in the Conference Center, but the situation is, at least for the moment, difficult for both artists and viewers.

These issues aside, Banisadr’s paintings, with their own bright colors and abstract compositions, hold their own even in these circumstances. These are mixed media works on masonite board, which the artist uses in a three-dimensional way, bending and warping the board so it projects from the wall.

Generally speaking, Banisadr uses abstraction as a means to convey spiritual and philosophical content. Having escaped violence in her home country back in the early 1980s, she avoids specific references to Iranian religion or culture. Her work is more universal in intent, although her heavy use of gold leaf, even in an abstract context, is reminiscent of icons, and perhaps of Persian miniatures and calligraphy. The latter is the only hint one gets here of the artist’s Iranian heritage. Instead, these paintings allude to themes more immediately personal and poetic in feeling. This is primarily achieved via the conceptual character of her titles, and by occasional collaged words referring to themes about life and the journeys we all take through it. Titles like ‘‘Destinations of Midlife,” ‘‘In the Middle of the Road of My Life,” or ‘‘To Feel the Road Ahead” connote the idea of spiritual evolution.

Among the best works in the show is certainly ‘‘Crossing the Unknown,” from which the whole exhibit takes its title. Of modest size, like most in this exhibit (48 by 30 inches, with the exception of the two triptychs), the painting is notable for the brilliant blue color of the large cut-out paper forms pasted to its surface. These are complemented by areas of golden brown house paint, canvas strips pasted on in layers and passages of gold leaf. Like other paintings in this exhibit, this work shows real understanding of late Cubist spatial vocabularies, making use of interwoven layers of pictorial space played off against flat, unframed masonite surfaces.

Even more interesting with regard to sources in late Cubism is the work called ‘‘LIFE” — the capitals referring to the iconic heading of the famous magazine of that name that appears in the center of the canvas. Around it is a rather sensuous composition, reminiscent of Georges Braque in the late 1930s and ’40s, with a long black painted curve like a violin or a vase, collaged newspaper, stenciled numbers and other forms that surround the red rectangle carrying the white letters. This is the most figurative of all the works, and perhaps for that reason, the most compelling.

I also liked the bright yellow tones of ‘‘To Dare to Live” which includes a wood panel atop the masonite board and a worked center that seems like a secret door, or opening. ‘‘Lonely Choices” shows rectangular layers of bright blues and pinks, with a highly glossy clear wood stain. Indeed, the variety and experimental nature of Banisadr’s technique constitutes some of the most engaging qualities of the exhibit as a whole.

The small Invitational Gallery of the Mansion at Strathmore is now hosting ‘‘Fiber Fantasy,” a group of works by eight women fiber artists, all primarily dealing with abstraction, whether in quilted wall hangings, colorful felt and fabric constructions, or perfectly white tatting. For example, Floris Flam’s ‘‘Symmetry #2,” an exquisitely crafted quilting piece, shows this artist’s innate sense for abstract composition using fabrics instead of brushes full of paint as her medium. In a sense, these are also mixed media works, some of them wearable art in forms such as scarves, bracelets and shawls that include embroidery and beading, buttons or other details.

Among the most compelling are three wall pieces by Roz Houseknecht using felt, wool and other fabrics to create darkly glowing compositions. Among these, the three-dimensional wall construction entitled ‘‘Penland Winds” was certainly the most interesting. In this experimental work comprised of cut pieces of felt, wool and other materials, Houseknecht has created an abstraction that goes beyond the functional or the pretty, into something that stands out for its sculptural qualities.

Although comparisons to the abstract painted compositions of Banisadr may seem unwarranted, there is a thread of connection to be seen between them. Both artists are approaching the problems of abstraction from the outside, from a different, perhaps feminist point of view. The results are intriguing.
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