This spring, Buster Levi Gallery is pleased to present a series of focused group exhibitions. The fourth of these exhibits, titled, Connections IV, will feature paintings Tim D’Acquisto and Bill Kooistra, and mixed media works by Grace Kennedy and Ursula Schneider. The exhibit will run from June 2 through June 25, 2023. The opening for the show will be on Friday June 2, 2023 from 5-8pm.

The focus of three of the artists in the exhibit is a personal interpretation of interiors. While all three share some common visual language such a the use of areas of flat color and an attention to two dimensional space, their work differs in intent.

 D’Acquisto’s paintings are constructed from flat planes of mostly muted soft color. The rooms and objects are ‘casually’ drawn in a manner that recalls the work of Milton Avery. Colors may be even, but the brushwork is varied as it defines planes and surfaces. D’Acquisto’s subject matter tends to be humorous or ironic, certainly never definitive. His interiors often consist of an empty table, chairs or ladders in a room with little or no apparent narrative. Though employing the methodology of classic modernism, D’Acquisto’s paintings are equally focused on the expressive possibilities of his imagery. 

Grace Kennedy’s works suggest film stills. They are collages combined with painting, though her use of collage is subtle. Collage allows Kennedy to explore the ‘randomness’ of images inserted into her work. They help accentuate the impression that the viewer has unexpectedly come upon some drama but what that drama is, is not clear. Though her work employs more spatial depth than D’Acquisto’s, she turns the pictorial planes up toward the viewer either through color or unusual viewing angles, which force the images to emphasize the two dimensionality of the picture plane and disorient the overall apprehension of the subject matter.

Bill Kooistra’s interiors are based on personal spaces that he has either lived or vacationed in. Most are based on drawings that are part documentary and part analytical. This series of paintings include works that incorporate areas outside of the interior such as decks or the landscape, in addition to those based on the same room at different times of the day. The colors used in the works generally respond to specific light conditions. The paintings are also based on the idea of erasure; a characteristic of Matisse’s work that always interested Kooistra; how much of what was actually in the space could be eliminated and have the painting still retain the sense of a particular interior. 

In addition to the interiors of the other three artists, the exhibition includes recent paintings by Ursula Schneider that combine drawing and painting depicting different birds and insects. The renderings are based on scientific illustrations but the drawing is looser, as Schneider incorporates a certain amount of gestural expression. Each of the images is partially or fully enclosed in a circle of brilliant color while the rest of the painting leaves the wood panels exposed. These works combine Schneider’s on going focus on color and geometry with her interest in the imagery and science of birds and insects which often finds its way into some of her more abstracted paintings that she has exhibited previously. 

Buster Levi Gallery is open Saturday and Sunday from 12-5 pm. 

For more information: busterlevigallery.com