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October Issue 2007
Joie Lassiter Gallery in Charlotte, NC, Features Works by Lluis Lleo and Hoss Haley
The Joie Lassiter Gallery in Charlotte, NC,
is presenting two exhibits including: Lluis Lleo: Watermark
and Hoss Haley: Erratic, both on view from Oct. 5 through
Nov. 2, 2007.
Lluis Lleo
Lluis Lleo brings ideas from the intangible space of thought and translates them directly into physical form. He relies on his intuition to let him know the amount of information to put into his works so that some mystery remains in the piece for the viewers to puzzle with themselves. The viewer thereby gains a sense of involvement and connection to the work. Lleo gained an appreciation for frescoes at an early age from his father's work and exposure to medieval religious frescoes. His work is not dramatic like many other contemporary artists but deliberate, developed and lucid.
Once an idea has become a form and is examined physically from one angle, Lleo will reexamine it from several perspectives in order to get every impression as it evolves in his thoughts. As a painter and sculptor, he is always finding ways to use his 3-dimensional work in his 2-dimensional work as physical evidence of the thought's evolution. He is taking the representation full circle by having one work actually appear in another work. A visitor to Lleo's studio once commented that the forms seemed to be what dreams were made of. They have at once a flexible fragility and a sense of solidity. The canvas he works on becomes a stretched skin with implied strength through its woven surface.
Lleo works in spiritualized geometry, similar
to that of Kupka, Kandinsky, Klee and Mondrian and, in our time,
that of Sean Scully, Antonio Diaz and others. The geometry hints
of some ambiguous reality with what could be a silhouette and
a receding plane that introduces depth. Through the use of a few
simple geometric shapes, Lleo creates a sense of transcendence
in his work that is both soothing and mysterious.
In Spain, you will find his name listed along with legends such
as Antoni Tapies and Eduardo Chillida and always included in the
list of "greats" from the eighties and nineties. Lleo's
work is in the collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte
Reina Sofia, in Madrid, the Museo de Art Contemporaneo Sofia Imber,
in Caracas, Venezuela, the World Bank, Washington, DC, DLB, Brussels,
Belgium, to mention but a few.
Hoss Haley
Hoss Haley's choice of materials, his skills and his sensibility all have their origins in his rural Kansas upbringing. His interest in steel was evident by the age of 12. Haley devoted himself to metalwork before he explored the artistic side of his medium. This life-long relationship with metal surrounds him, affecting the way he thinks, sees and hears.
The title of his current show, Erratic refers to the geological definition of the word. An erratic is a rock displaced by ice and deposited some distance from its origin once the ice melts. The volumes of steel from this series curve slightly on every surface and as a result they meet the ground on only one point. The minute meeting between ground and sculpture gives an uprooted and almost weightless feeling that reflects the errant quality of their inspiration. An extensive background in welding, machining, and architectural blacksmithing serve as a foundation for a pragmatic approach to his current studio work.
Haley lives in Asheville, NC. He works primarily with steel and concrete, materials common to the vocabulary of farm life. In keeping with his basic idea of 'non-precious' material, the artist also introduced concrete into his approach. Many of his works relate to the human figure, others refer to machinery and agriculture. The surfaces of his pieces whether bare or painted are distressed through corrosion, abrasion and heat to suggest natural degradation. Many of his pieces depict the passage of time. "Humans struggle for permanence and throughout history we have tried to build structures that would last forever," says Haley. "But the moment a structure is built it starts to deteriorate, nature will reclaim it. There is beauty in this process and I hope this will come through in my work."
Haley has exhibited his work in venues such as the California Crafts Museum, the Penland Gallery, the North Carolina Museum of Art, Blue Spiral I Gallery and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.
For further information check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 704/373-1463 or visit (www.lassitergallery.com).
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