ReviewsEd Baynard |
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Earth Matters Artist Ed Baynard Goes Blue Over Global Warming By RAFAEL RISEMBERG Monday, May 08, 2006 |
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Sometimes beauty is not enough. Or so believes artist Ed Baynard, whose exhibit "Re Emerging," at the recently opened Sara Tecchia Roma New York Gallery in Chelsea, is a major departure from the work that he is known for. Not that his newest work is less than lovely, but it is now imbued with a political consciousness that enhances its vitality. After a 35-year career in which Baynard became celebrated for his delicate, meticulous still-life paintings and prints of flowers, and a lifetime of political participation in causes involving civil rights, the artist has for the first time merged this two pursuit. His current show, consisting of 14 large-scale watercolors, has as its theme the ravages of global warming - a message that could not come at a more urgent time. Inspired by a visit to the Russian River north of San Francisco following the death of his lover in 1989, this project has gestated for a decade and a half. What has finally emerged is a series of works that depicts birds, or forests, or abstracted landscapes, with a gaping white circle situated in the middle of the paper. These enigmatic round holes can be interpreted as representing the sun or moon, or the blotting out of nature, or, more metaphorically, the cavity in one's soul. All the pieces are composed from just two shades of ultramarine blue, on special cloth-based Saunders paper. Watercolor is a most unforgiving medium. Unlike in oil painting, where mistakes can be retouched, or in photography, where images can be seamlessly manipulated digitally, there can be no backtracking when working in watercolor. Hence, most watercolors tend to be small. Not so with Baynard’s creations, which average an impressive 60 by 40 inches. His most arresting works are from a six-piece series titled "Melting." In each work, the gaping white hole covers a horizon. The ground consists of runny drips, representing a liquefying shelf of ice; the sky above is dark, turbulent and ominous. Another series, "Falling," shows elegant birds in mid-flight, the main part of their bodies obliterated by the white circle. It looks almost as if they were shot with a cannonball. These works are among Baynard's most violent, and yet there exists an underlying beauty. Nearby drops of watercolor that first appear to be splattered (blood, perhaps?) are in fact carefully placed. The two pieces titled "Receding Floor of Rain Forest" are the most lush; the verdant leaves are thick and abundant. Here, the lines are so thinly and painstakingly executed that they seem more like ink drawings than watercolors. The sense of planetary loss is particularly acute in these works. As radiant as these watercolors are, one gallery exhibit will not affect the progress of global warming, and so an air of helplessness hangs over the show. But there is also hope, found in one man's response that adds to a growing chorus of concern. The tipping point, one way or the other, will eventually come. "Re Emerging," 10am-6pm, Tue-Sat, until May 27, at: Sara Tecchia Roma New York Gallery 529 W 20th St saratecchia.com 212-741-2900 Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D |