Donna Seager Gallery opens her season with new shows in both sides of the gallery.  Figurative works by painters Jylian Gustlin, Dennis Hare and Waldemar Mitrowski are exhibited in the east wing with the nearly lifesize sculpture of Sharon Paster.  In the west wing, Ann Weber, well known in the Bay Area for her sculpture in cardboard reveals her exciting new work in white and color. 

In 1951, when the art world was steeped in abstract expressionism, David Park stunned his audience by presenting paintings that were rooted in abstraction but were figurative.  The figures were informed by the language and process-oriented concerns of abstract expressionism, but the introduction of the figure in them gave the viewer an entirely different kind of access and relationship to the painting.  This tradition has continued in various waves in Bay Area painting and it is one that never ceases to draw us in.  Because we are a figure ourselves, it seems that the appearance of the figure in art creates a physical relationship missing in pure abstraction.  If the figure is dense, we feel the weight of it and if it is long, we feel the stretch.  Gestures are related to physically and patches of light on a shoulder or head can be sensed as warm in the same ways that shadows are cool.  The exhibition at the Seager Gallery looks at three different approaches to the figure in the paintings of Dennis Hare, Jylian Gustlin and Waldemar Mitrowski.
All of these painters are generous with their materials.  The paintings are layered and rich.  Dennis Hare’s paintings are thick and incorporate various materials into the surface, yet his characters are passersby and children playing on the street.  They are part of but do not dominate the landscape, which is an organic and fortified presence.  Waldemar Mitrowski’s explorations with the figure are more existential, seeking to define themselves in the process of the painting itself, much like those of Nathan Oliveira.  Themes of solitude and introspection give them a haunting and serious beauty.  Jylian Gustlin’s painting is a decidedly more contemporary look at figuration.  Her compositions are strong and almost graphic while the drips and textures  suggest a joy and playfulness in the process.  By incorporating resin into the surface of the work, Gustlin is able to use paper collage and gold in their creation.

Punctuating that sensation of physicality are the dramatic sculptures of Sharon Paster.  Sharon’s plaster sculptures are reminiscent of George Segal in materials and scale, but Paster’s figures relate more to everyday life.  They are comfortable and utterly “normal”, which is in contrast to their striking presence and scale.  They are beautifully simplified, leaving just enough detail to make them feel familiar like family members or someone who might live in your neighborhood. 

IIn the west wing, we are particularly excited to have the newest work of sculptor Ann Weber.  Known for her structures in cardboard, Ann has had exhibitions in the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum and most recently at the Boise Art Museum, to name a few.  Over the years, Ann had attempted to work in color, but had not found a solution that didn’t take away from the organic nature of the work.  On a recent residency in Germany, Ann found that natural cardboard was not available and she created works made from brightly colored and white cardboard boxes and found the answer to her quandary.  This exhibition is the first to show the new work in many different sizes.  Playful and original, these new works have the structural integrity and organic presence that have been the uncanny characteristics of her work from the beginning.