Art Review: What I liked.

 by Ellen Martin

I went to art shows and I saw things I liked. These images drew me in and made me want to keep discovering what they were all about. 

First up: “Fixed Gaze” by Mari Elaine Lamp. I don’t know exactly what Mari’s intention was but at first glance it looked like an underwater scene to me. That grabbed me immediately. Then there are those two drips. They are so precisely placed and controlled, and they look like they could still be wet. But they are dry, and they change colors as they bottom out. And what is that vine all about. Much later I saw the woman in the scene. The mystery, the motion and the elusiveness of the image drew me in.

(The Center for Visual Arts, Brookdale Community College until November 12, 2021)

“Finding Myself” by Margaret Marzullo was another piece I wanted to keep on looking at. It’s a psychological study of a woman’s face. The woman’s face is not perfectly rendered, but it’s intriguing. She emerges from a loosely painted dark background and is painted in garish colors. She’s wearing large glasses and dark red lips. She is most definitely not smiling. You feel as though she could fall behind the dark veil at any moment. The mysteries hiding behind that look drew me in. I want to know more.

(Art Alliance of Monmouth County, through October)

“Family Jeans” by Susan Byrnes is not the first image that would come to mind when you think of a quilt, but it’s a fun, carefully constructed piece. It immediately caught my attention after looking at dozens of beautifully conceived and crafted colorful quilts. After a glance or two I noticed that it was made up primarily of jean pockets. Some have been ripped away and some are still extant. There are some nice rhythms set up with the seams, the pockets and the lights and darks of the jean segments.  

(Monmouth Museum, 8 Uncommon Threads, Through November 7)