David John Rush paintings on show at Morris County library
Two separate venues host complementary shows of abstract art through the end of February. The College of New Jersey Art Gallery presents a selective overview of American abstract art since 1950, while a solo show at the Morris County Library spotlights the work of current abstractionist David John Rush.
The “Abstract Expressions” exhibit at The College of New Jersey features 34 works on loan from the New Jersey State Museum. Museum curator Margaret O’Reilly organized the show, weighting it toward artists who explored formalist concerns.
“These works,” she said, “all created after 1950, expand the discussions begun by pioneering abstract artists like Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.”
The display surveys some of the dominant permutations of abstraction that arose and gained traction among post-World War II artists.
Many of the featured artists delved deeply into theoretical issues, as with the optical geometries of Richard Anuszkiewicz, the ghostly evocations of Yayoi Kusama, and the color subtleties of Theodoros Stamos.
The show includes multiple examples of three-dimensional abstraction, ranging from the rugged elegance of Mel Edwards’ welded steel “Homage to the Architect Joe Black” to the biomorphic forms of Ka Kwong Hui’s “Ceramic Form X.”
A pair of cast paper reliefs made by Louise Nevelson in the 1970s reveal her genius for structural design, and contrast significantly with the more visceral and gritty hand-cast paper reliefs produced by Susan MacQueen in the 1980s. “These artists employ a great range of styles and techniques — geometry, gesture, expression, optical illusion — to convey their ideas,” said O’Reilly.
A current practitioner
In Whippany, the Morris County Library presents a generous selection of paintings by Rush.
Formerly admired for his finely rendered still lifes, landscapes and portraits, Rush subsequently evolved a personal style of exploring formal themes, which he christened “chromatic structuralism.”
The exhibit features 26 paintings that manipulate design, hue, pattern and shape concurrently, impacting perception and generating multiple mental impressions.
“A painting has several faces, if you will, and each viewer sees something different and has a different perception of what they’re looking at,” said Rush. “It’s mysterious and thought provoking.”
Rush arranges his canvases into systematic manipulations of scientific color theory.
By expertly modulating the depth, richness, saturation and other qualities of color, in geometrically configured juxtapositions, Rush generates shifting perceptual effects.
“Images change before your very eyes,” he said. “And what you thought you just saw, soon becomes another idea. This is all accomplished through color psychology and design perception.”
The exhibit includes three pieces from Rush’s latest “Constellation” series, wherein dazzling colors in calculated spatial arrangements create dynamic optical effects.
Rush often paints in sequential series, such as his gouache Tondo canvases, in which he painstakingly explores variations on specific color performances.
“In Tondo 14 and many other paintings,” he said, “the idea is to make images appear to work together that in reality never could.”
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONS: SELECTED WORKS FROM THE NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM
WHEN: Noon to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 1 to 3 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 28
WHERE: The College of New Jersey Art Gallery, AIMM Building,
2000 Pennington Road, Ewing
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: 609-771-2633 or www.tcnjartgallery.tcnj.edu
CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS BY DAVID JOHN RUSH
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 28
WHERE: Morris County Library,
30 East Hanover Ave., Whippany
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: 973-285-6930 or www.mclib.info