Thank goodness obsessive people such as Lance Letscher, Lauren Levy
and Steve Wiman have directed their considerable energy to making
art. The three Austinites — all doyens of the art scene — share
a fixation with quotidian old things. And all show off terrific
new work in "Object," now at D. Berman Gallery.
Letscher continues generating his beguiling collages of old paper
and book parts. But he's gotten a little more whimsical and looser.
Now frenzied groupings of vintage airplanes populate his compositions
and he even covers a pair of deck shoes with paper scraps inside
and out to a delightful effect.
After experimenting unsuccessfully with photography, Levy returns
to making her rotund, creaturelike sculpture from dozens of old
buttons strung on wire. But now she gives them a quirky twist with
bundles of old pencils that protrude cartoonishly from the mass
of buttons.
Would that we all had Wiman's eye for combining pieces of junk in
delightful ways — our closets and attics would look so much better.
Whether he's stacking old books into an orderly tower or combining
scarves and pottery shards, Wiman knows how to make the overlooked
look beautiful.
But the real surprise in this exhibit is Gladys Poorte. Though she
has chalked up just a few group shows, Poorte impresses with her
imaginative paintings. Using armatures and fabric, she sets up miniature
landscapes and populates them with toys, then renders the scenes
on canvas using lush brushstrokes. Vaguely impressionistic, vaguely
baroque, Poorte's paintings are potent. They tease with their obscure
stories and demand that you look - and then look again.
"Object" continues noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays through
July 30 at D. Berman Gallery, 1701 Guadalupe St. Free. 477-8877.
www.dbermangallery.com.
— Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
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