The square's the star at Anderson-Soule

By Felicia Menard
HippoPress.com

It's hip to be square this month at the Anderson-Soule Gallery in Concord where Peter Dixon's inspired show "In and About the Square" runs through May 31.

Dixon's paintings, monoprints and drawings revolve around his favorite geometric form, the square. The series is intimate yet bold. The deceptively simple paintings are complicated in their execution. Dixon begins his process by developing a sketch for each painting, then creating an under-painting of gray values. After the under-painting is dry, Dixon adds color using paint combined with a glazing medium, which creates nebulous clouds of color. The painting develops a luminous quality during the glazing process as amorphous shapes emerge.

"It can take anywhere from four to 10 weeks to complete a painting," Dixon said.

Strong color contrasts and unexpected slashes of vibrant or subdued color immerse the viewer in the works. The paintings are sensual and invite lengthy gazes. Like a seasoned jazz musician, Dixon sets up a call and response, in which the viewer is a willing participant in exquisite paintings of color nuances and atmosphere.
"I want the viewer to be free to interpret the paintings, drawings and monoprints in any way they like. Hopefully, the end result is a unique individual experience," Dixon said. "I usually try to work in twos and threes. For this show, I'm trying to combine two paintings in one canvas and make them work together. I'm softening my edges. It's more difficult to find an edge and follow it because it will disappear."

This is especially true of "Green Field Diptych/Pink Blue," which is displayed vertically.

At first glance the lower painting of the two seems to be in an order similar to the top painting. Dixon anticipates the viewer's reaction and sets up a subliminal charge of electric color throughout the paintings. Where the top painting involves a blue square bordered by yellows and violets, the lower painting contains a purple center square framed by violets. As a departure from the rest of the series, brush strokes or gaps in the glaze emerge through the layers of paint. This creates an extraordinary tension in the painting's surface.

"Blue Field/Two Squares" is another remarkable achievement. Two squares emerge from the 48-inch square canvas through graduated blues and blue-grays. Graduations of dark to light color also move horizontally throughout the painting. Mark Rothko, an influence in Dixon's work, painted about futility and morbidity. Dixon has a more positive outlook. He records the moving striations of hopeful clouds on a summer's day.

"Black and White," which measures 30 inches by 66 inches, fuses two paintings into one painting. Reading left to right, the white half builds from concentric gray squares and saturated white glazes. The second half is squares within squares developed by layering black upon gray glazes. The squares dissolve, emerge and disappear again.

It would be interesting to turn the lights down low to view Dixon's series to see what new forms emerge. Perhaps the paintings could be displayed in a room with a southern exposure-where the day's light would contribute to a change in meaning.

Linda Martin's florals and Nancy MacKenzie's blazing landscapes round out the show. Martin's florals are intriguing grisailles (gray under-paintings), which illustrate Dixon's technique and are strong enough to exist without color. MacKenzie's paintings begin as grisailles, but are further developed and achieve luminosity and color sensitivity by her addition of glorious color.

"In and About the Square: Recent Works by Peter Dixon," will show at the Anderson-Soule Gallery, 2 Capital Plaza, Concord, through May 31. Call 228-3800 for more information.

Felicia Menard can be reached at hippo@hippopress.com