Able Fine Art Gallery in Chelsea, NY is presenting a very special two-person exhibition showcasing the exceptional paintings of Yang, Suk and Marsha Solomon.
These two artists, while quite distinct in style, training, and approach are unified by the use of vivid, saturated fields of pure color, and the focus on beauty in both the natural and imaginary realms.
The bright, color saturated paintings of Yang, Suk display references to sources as disparate as flowers, one of the most traditional sources of imagery, and the thick, gestural strokes of pure color that hearken back to and are a cornerstone of early abstraction. She joins them into vibrant, harmonious compositions that recall the work of Van Gogh and the Impressionists, using an intense but limited palette and short, dense strokes of pure color, laid down like pieces of a mosaic, which carry an almost architectural presence. In her work, Yang, Suk freely journeys between abstraction and representation, presenting a personal view that is both whimsical and expressive.
Flowers have been portrayed by artists since the beginnings of art. They speak a special language to the spirit, filled with hope and promise. Yang Suk has chosen them as her metaphor, her code; through them, she imparts her complex message. The flowers of Yang Suk are not decorations or tokens. In her compositions, they are substantial objects, bearing importance, yet retaining their delicacy and joy.
Yang Suk uses strong, almost sculptural strokes that bring to mind the formative work of Phillip Guston, or Joan Mitchell’s paintings from Giverny, and her still life compositions, with their quiet simplicity recall the paintings of Giorgio Morandi. But unlike his muted color range, the paintings of Yang Suk explode with cheerful bursts of untamed reds, pinks, purples, and oranges. Her flattened, minimalistic, expressive and whimsical compositions, much like the blossoming phenomenon they often depict, seem to erupt with enthusiasm and eagerness to be.
Yet, by depicting intrinsically ephemeral, fragile forms like flowers in an architectonic, structural way, whether consciously or unconsciously, Yang Suk invites the viewer to consider the traits of solidity and delicacy, strength and vulnerability and whether they are exclusive of one another or can coexist. In her unabashedly feminine, powerful paintings, they certainly do.
Marsha Solomon is an accomplished New York area artist whose work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums both nationally and internationally. Her series of large abstract paintings titled “From Rhythm to Form” follow a simple yet powerful formula, in which the interplay of jewel-like colors, the variation of opacity—from soft washes to thick strokes of impasto—and positive and negative spaces all combine to create a dynamic image, born from nature and intuition, but, ultimately, about no less than the elements of art itself. Line, color and form unite on her canvasses to create an atmospheric, mystical space of serenity infused with energy.
Through the abstract paintings of Marsha Solomon, the viewer enters an alternate space where thoughts are quieted and emotions are evoked by color and line, predominantly circles of completeness.
This series, “From Rhythm to Form” which she has been working on for a number of years, hearkens to and recalls the heights of Abstract Expressionism. The force of Motherwell, the lyricism of Frankenthaler, the alternatingly delicate and bold interplay of tones as seen in Morris Louis, all find a new voice in Ms. Solomon's work. In these colorful paintings, Solomon presents the viewer with a vision, not of theory and thoughts, but of pure beauty formed by her innovative, yet fully realized and accomplished technique.
Each painting expresses simplicity, while her work exhibits both spontaneity and deliberation. The sometimes serendipitous outcome of a pour of thinned liquid acrylic stain is then contained, corralled, and completed by thick, emphatic strokes. Intense colors float, making bold statements about the fundamental forms of art, and at the same time whispering in undertones of states of mind and the inner self. Her images remind the viewer of an inverse of the meditative void, but in Solomon's case, the atmospheric, spatial centers suggest a meditative expression of wholeness.
Able Fine Art, with exhibition spaces in Chelsea, New York, and in Seoul, is one of the premier international art galleries highlighting the work of notable contemporary Korean as well as American and international artists. The two galleries, under the direction of Michelle and Benjamin Yu have built a reputation as an important cross-cultural venue by developing emerging Korean artists and exhibiting established Korean artists, and, at the same time, introducing New York and international artists to Korean audiences.