ARTICLE #9

VISUAL ARTS | Size Matters
Charleston City Paper
Author: Nick Smith
APRIL 13, 2005
Two new exhibits stand out in a busy week for galleries

Small Works
On view through April 30
Robert Lange Studios -151 East Bay St.-805-8052

The size of a canvas can have an effect all its own, as evinced by the Small Works show that opened last weekend at the new Robert Lange Studio. Lange opened the shotgun-style gallery back in December, and for this show he invited several of his favorite local artists to contribute some little gems. The sizes range from Michael Tyzack’s 7-x-7-inch abstract “Skylark IV” to Wade Lawrence’s ethereal 21-x-21-inch “Drayton Hall Fog,” and all of the artists involved have enough savvy to keep their images simple.

“A small sketch or painting can have a few strokes and be just as beautiful as a larger piece that seems more distant,” says Lange. “As a painter doing one of these works, you’re excited the entire time. They’re quick to create — they take one day to two instead of two months — so they stay fresh, live, full of energy. They capture the moment they were made, a breath of fresh air.”

The show includes J.B. Boyd landscapes, graphite studies by Charles Ailstock, richly manipulated photographs of land and sea horizons from John Duckworth, and figurative oils by Gary Grier. His “In Key,” a glimpse of a glinting sax and an expressive musician, sold even before the studio’s opening reception had begun.

"We got nine more offers that night," says Lange, pointing out that he intended Small Works to have a large spectrum of price points, "from $200 photographs to $2,500 Mickey Williams landscapes."

Charleston's no stranger to small works of art, with innumerable oils of Rainbow Row and other picturesque landmarks around to tempt tourists. This means that Lange’s guest contributors have had to work extra hard to make their tiny tableaux stand out.

If Val Kilmer had developed his painting skills in Top Secret!, the result might have been something like Duckworth's ethereally distorted landscapes. They capture the beauty of our surroundings, impossible to ignore even when we’re rushing through life. Harriet Zabusky-Zand uses colors that help her tasteful abstracts stand out and grab the attention of viewers. Lange himself uses the small form to good effect with still lives of everyday objects; "The Misplaced Tea Bag" is one of the most successful, with the subject taped to a wall, dangling and lonely.

This show is a gamble for Lange, but judging by last Friday's reception, it's paid off. "It's out of the ordinary because it's a little bit more contemporary," he says. That contemporary feel is enhanced by the venue, with its hardwood floors and leather sofas.

"We're trying to bring some New York style to Charleston," Lange explains, "and maybe persuade some other galleries to be a little more social." If Small Works encourages them to try competitive new approaches to the work they sell and the way they engage their visitors, it's been well worth the effort.