Through Saturday, December 7...

PETER MILTON: LAYERED REALITIES  

Drawing from the Zillman Art Museum’s extensive holdings of contemporary prints, Layered Realities features an array of etchings and engravings by Peter Milton. Born in 1930, Milton, who is color blind, taught art at various universities including Yale and the Maryland Institute College of Art, among others. The majority of the featured works are from the artist’s The Jolly Corner suite of 1971. The suite is inspired by Henry James’ short story of the same name that was published in the English Review in 1908. The 21 images composing The Jolly Corner, depict construction sites and architectural interiors as a central element, along with recurrent subjects such as the nude female figure, workers on I-beams, and bearded men in profile. The characters in Milton’s prints include dapper aristocrats as well as working class laborers. In these meticulously detailed interiors—replete with nostalgia and mystery—hybrid animals such as a deer/tiger and a cat/rabbit appear within the spaces.

A centerpiece of the exhibition, and a more recent creation, is the large-scale etching Points of Departure II Nijinsky Variations, 1996. This tour de force composition is teeming with a multitude of figures placed within a luxurious opera house whose interior is adorned with ornate fixtures and rich architectural features. Building on Surrealism’s evocative tendencies, Milton’s bedecked audience members seem to be extracted from different eras. Contributing to the drama are dancing ghostly apparitions that seem to hover in midair.

Peter Milton has work in over 200 collections including the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, National Gallery of American Art, Washington, D.C., Tate Gallery, London and many other notable institutions.

THROUGH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28...

MAJO KELESHIAN: MEDITATIONS A RETROSPECTIVE

MaJo Keleshian once remarked, “Landscape-related imagery has been a strong influence in my work—elements from nature not of nature. It is the “near” view that most intrigues me.” The works presented in Meditations, A Retrospective highlight nature-inspired abstracts that exude texture and mood. Striking black and white prints demonstrate the artist’s skills in printmaking while other works on paper are more subtle and evocative. Keleshian used a combination of media that she created to evoke the spirit of an internal state.

The artist’s dedication to Buddhism and its contemplative nature are apparent in her compositions. Keleshian once noted, “I’m looking for ways to suggest a moment in the landscape, to simulate aspects of it.” The artist developed her own distinct process for creating work and described it as, “applying layers of color, adding gestural marks, rubbing away surfaces, working very freely for the initial stage of the process.” Keleshian also worked in encaustic and loved using beeswax, which helped create luminescent artworks that reflect a fleeting moment in time.

The retrospective approach of this exhibition illustrates the evolution of Keleshian’s comprehensive career. The unifying thread connecting the artist’s varied work is her mark-making, whether tiny scratches or robust brushstrokes. These works capture the impermanence of a moment and display the source of exploration in Keleshian’s creative practice.

LAWRENCE CLIFFORD: OFF THE SHELF

Off the Shelf showcases the work of Maine-based artist Lawrence Clifford. The artist’s mosaic panels have a linear structure of order and sequence created by deconstructing antique books to give them new life as works of art. Clifford’s artistic background in realistic anatomical illustration informs his current practice, which is intentional and exacting but looser and less representational.

The artist salvages outworn books and carefully selects parts that are fashioned into hard geometric shapes. Clifford says, “the books almost suggest the pattern and the palette for the artwork.” Clifford is receptive to what the reclaimed materials offer while preserving the true and natural colors, dyes, textures and patinas of the existing books.

Clifford’s objective is to honor these reading materials by reinventing them as artwork. The artist’s latest panels, Path of Totality I, II, and III, were inspired by the total solar eclipse that occurred on April 8, 2024. Clifford used color to depict the movement of the phases of the eclipse.

MOIRA HOLOHAN: DITS . . . AND DAHS - - -

Miami-based artist Moira Holohan’s solo-exhibition explores visual language through abstract imagery. “I have found a rhythm in my work that looks to the past and then interweaves the present in a both personal and contemporary context through drawing, printmaking, textile and video.”

In Dits … and Dahs - - - Holohan is investigating her own graphic communication through pictures she creates in a range of media. In many of these compositions, the artist is responding to the works of Robert Motherwell, who was a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement. Motherwell’s established vocabulary of primordial ovoid shapes and atavistic lines and dashes is reflected in many of the works featured in this exhibition. (See At the Edge and Mexican Night II) Holohan also incorporates Morse code and states, “I see the code as a unique abstract language that could be generated with rhythmic patterns, whether from sound, light, or mark. This language can be compelling when delivering simple, repeatable messages, like SOS, that will grab people’s attention almost immediately and mimic the urgency of Motherwell’s Elegy series.” Interestingly, Samuel Morse, the creator of Morse code, was also a painter.

Holohan’s use of color is restrained in this series. She favors black, white, and chroma green, another nod to Motherwell. The mark making and “brushstrokes”, whether screen-printed or woven, are urgent and energetic. The flipbook animation video, Dit & Dah, complements the body of work by showing the rhythm and vigor that infuses Holohan’s artwork. “In the video work I am repeating a simple movement with my body to resemble dots and dashes. The exploration of using Morse code in this series began in video format. Through a simple synchronous movement of the body that contorts into a dot and a line—a message can be sent.”