Two views of nature compete for attention  

By Michael Barnes

AMERICAN-STATESMAN ARTS CRITIC

Sunday, May 26, 2002

 
 


At D. Berman Gallery, Jimmy Jalapeeno and Billy Hassell arrive at the natural world from competing perspectives. Hassell sees big planes separated by distinct shadings. His oversized subjects vibrate against flat, decorative backgrounds. Jalapeeno, for the most part, plays with droplets of light that coalesce into different images, depending on the position of the viewer.

It's super to see Jalapeeno on gallery walls again. He seemed to disappear after the venerable Lyons-Matrix Gallery closed. Besides his color-sprinkled landscapes, he has produced chaste still-life paintings -- vegetables, fruit, etc. -- and paintings based on photographs of sculpture. Jalapeeno shot John Chamberlain's crumpled cars in Marfa, then, with paint on canvas, played with tightly framed, twisted surfaces, reflections and layers of colors, faded from their original commercial jobs.

Hassell takes a more fantastic road. His giant birds -- cardinals, mockingbirds, orioles -- remind one of Susan Kemner Reed's menacing monsters at Wally Workman Gallery. He smooths his oils into long, loving strokes or labors assiduously on the details of his backdrops. Some of this is oddly banal -- especially a tropically hued scene with palm trees and herons -- but his best works feel like significant accomplishments.

"Billy Hassell and Jimmy Jalapeeno" continues through June 22, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at D. Berman Gallery, 1701 Guadalupe St., 477-8877.

11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday 
d berman Gallery, 1701 Guadalupe St.
477-8877


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