January 2 – January 31, 2010
Emergent Complexities. Doris Colbert Kennedy.
Oil on canvas. 30 x 36”.
Through January 31st a solo exhibition by painter Doris Colbert Kennedy will be showing in Gallery 1 of the Foundry Gallery. Gaining inspiration from the physics of basic elements and the energy of movement in atomic particles, Kennedy creates abstract oil paintings of vibrant colors in chaotic strokes and lines.
The show, consisting of thirteen works of oil on canvas, is hung in the entry and front room of the gallery. When walking through the doors to the main gallery space, one is immediately struck by World Sheets, a bold diptych, and the largest piece in the show. Sweeping bands of orange, red and yellow mark the diagonal of the composition. These frenetic strokes push the cooler spaces of blues, purples and greens towards the outer corners of the canvas, giving a sense of movement and elemental repositioning that remains consistent throughout all of the works.
Tucked into the front corner of the gallery is Light in Phase Space, one of the most striking works in the show. Unlike World Sheets, this piece uses subtler areas of soft yellows and neutral browns and greens that either blend together at their meeting points or break apart into deeper strokes and translucent swirls. Amidst the play of mellow browns and yellows two cuts of bright blue break apart the composition and then slowly fade into the other colors. Their pointed ends pull areas of soft white and cream towards them, dictating the dynamics of the canvas.
Eleanor Smitherman is a recent graduate from Kenyon College with a B.A. In Art History. She is an intern at Washington Project for the Arts and is currently working on their 35th Anniversary Exhibition.
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