Rock House Paintings
Wallace Whitney
September 15 - October 21, 2006
Opening Friday September 15, 6-8pm
Painted large and aggressively with tonal splashes of sometimes impetuous color, Wallace Whitney's paintings refer most directly to Abstract Expressionist painting. There is a belief in the power of expressionism, although what is being expressed is often idiosyncratic opposed to heroic, and murky opposed to clear. Not built on irony, the paintings also do not appeal directly to male robustness, but rather play off this traditional aspect of Ab-Ex painting.
There is a dialogue between the artist and each painting as it unfolds. Each demanding and conceding as a part of a creative process built on a sensitivity to the world. The paintings stem from nature and an updated attempt to connect with sky, water, and light. The paintings make no effort to disguise, whether the ambitions of the project are met, re-imagined or altered.
Wallace Whitney's paintings are loosely associative, gestural and abstract. In a sense, Whitney attempts the quixotic by trying to reinvent the wheel with each new painting he starts.