art
PREVIEWS
Anatoly Kostovsky: Siberia The Russian Art Gallery, 225 Galisteo, 505-989-0223 ,russianart.us.com June 6–July 30, reception June 10, 5–8 pm After years of toiling at a local factory to support his family following the death of his father in World War II, the Siberian-born Kostovsky was finally able to study painting with the renowned artist Dmitri Barkalov and eventually went on to become an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation—the highest honor the government bestows upon an artist. Kostovsky’s works reveal the beauty of the Siberian landscape, as well as the quiet dignity of the people who inhabit it. His oil paintings draw viewers in with their warmth, achieved by the artist’s large brushstrokes, striking use of light and shadow, and rich, vibrant colors.—AH
Anatoly Kostovsky, Evening Walk, oil on panel, 23 x 27" Geoffrey Gorman, Dryomis and
Geoffrey Gorman: Second Nature Perigyps, wood, cloth, metal, and Jane Sauer Gallery, 652 Canyon, 505-995-8513, jsauergallery.com found objects, 39 x 30 x 30" June 17–July 12, reception June 17, 5–7 pm Gorman’s menagerie of otherworldly animalistic creations has the whiff of Dr. Frankenstein and Tim Burton about it (though never as outright creepy as either). These are critters who’ve been stitched back together with whatever’s handy—sticks, paper, rubber, discarded bits of metal and twine—by someone who can’t quite recall exactly what a bird, a dog, a rabbit looked like, before whatever apocalypse arrived and blew everything apart. It’s hard to say, from an artistic perspective, if all the extra bits—the amulets, the trinkets, the buttons—are too much and therefore unnecessary or not enough and somehow tentative. Or if the entire Art Brutish quality is a put-on or genuine, and what either might mean, if anything. It’s as if Gorman still isn’t as sure (or surehanded) about whether he’s going for maximalism or minimalism with these creaturely assemblages. Which may be his point.—DJ