Penny Coss, Illegal Landscapes - Perth Galleries, Western Australia

Review

I am not sure what Abstract Expressionism is nor do I particularly care about a label for painters, what one might be sure of in viewing this exhibition by Penny Coss is that there is a good number of paintings, which convey sensations from memory (vision) with a sensibility that are savvy in places. More recently in posts on the Artwall, questions have arisen about the idea of modern visions, what are they and in what epoch did they start, historians, critics and academics need timelines almost as if to order perceptual chaos (natural vision) if that ever could be done, these paintings are laced with modern vision. Sensations are what they are, energies that resonate in ones memory, to be expressed in one form or another, either through public displays as Coss has here in this exhibition or some form of introspective soliloquy.

In the artists statement Coss states; I am challenging the cannon of Abstract Expressionism, one wonders what for she is a good enough painter without battling it out with something as intangible, nebulous, flaky label like Abstract Expression and if she really wants to do that, look up Zen circle (Enso) painting from the Japanese Enso masters. It’s great to see Enso (circle) masters painting down in fine art street Gion, Kyoto, the array of marks from a sudden action delivered after much contemplation into charge of memory on paper in black ink is bewildering. Here is what I believe the origins of Abstract Expressionism and more to the point it took centuries for measures to be made by other Zen masters (the Japanese Kano School of Art is at least 350 years old), the rush by Coss to challenge cannons that have no actual end in sight at the moment, including her own work might be a tad premature, if not a complete waste of time, just get on a paint your doing really well.

Further along in the artist’s statement comes the crux of the idea that is articulated in paint in this exhibition by Coss; working on a site specific subject that has personal significance and which I have focused on for some years now, yes, well now there is some sort of understanding of vision (memory) from a chosen motif, that is well known to the artist and it shows in her artworks.

The painting no 12 titled Illegal Landscapes (2005), this space, this place, is a highly competent painting from memory (vision). There is nothing abstract about the afore mention image at all, its delivery articulated in oil traces onto the canvas by the artist, reveals a not often seen painterly surety in paint handling in Western Austrlia, this is evidenced in the dexterity of handling a brush, that manufactures objective memory (vision). The application of the lime green hues in the left hand corner of the painting are juxtaposed the central rose tints along with sensitive pink rose tints, with the hints of translucent burgundy tones, this is memory at risk in painting but Coss has executed it really well and its a delight to view.

The painting no 17 Illegal Landscapes (2005) White feather at night with turquoise, really does remind me of Japanese Enso painting in the execution of the idea from contemplation, whether it is or not I don’t know but its an image that deserves scrutiny for the way the brush work caresses the canvas, in hues that seem unlikely to sit together well at the end common standpoint, that being the finished painting but it does. There is an array of hues that decend slantwise from the top of the painting, starting with a manganese blue, light blue integrating with lime greens, white and plum tones along the bottom of the image, this range of colour is interestingly executed. If there is one issue that Coss might contemplate is to try and vary the brushwork, become a tad more extreme (a lot more really) in her use of tools, to develop a quiver of brushes for differing sensations something like the Chinese or Japanese calligraphers. No doubt that type of mastery takes a long time but Coss has delivered a strong painterly show. Sadly there is many good painters around Western Australia at the moment, that are being overlooked, until such time as the major institutions reveal the talent that lives in Perth and its countryside to the people of Western Australia, the private galleries are the only place one might see them.

Link to Perth Galleries:http://www.perthgalleries.com.au/artists/coss.htm

Link to Zen Enso (circle) Paintings: http://www.uwec.edu/greider/Buddha/Buddhism.Course/student.culturetexts.

posted by art-refugee at 8:47 AM