Santa Barbara Independent, Multiplicity. Two Strong Group Shows  

By Charles Donelan,  Wednesday, May 2, 2012

LIGHT MEETS DARK: Meanwhile, a few blocks away at MichaelKate Interiors through June 18, Richard Phipps, Tara Patrick, Karin Aggeler, and Gary Paul are in an equally interesting group show that was curated by artist Brad Nack. Phipps borrows elements of a sculptor or a designer’s process and uses them to create beautiful, complex paintings that skirt the edges of surrealism and hard geometric abstraction. Everything works in these images, from the bold and unpredictable palette to the scale and exploitation of figure/ground effects. Like all the works in this show, these are paintings that reward sustained, focused attention. Aggeler mines a more traditional abstract expressionist approach for wonderfully delicate atmospheric effects, and Paul pushes at the limits of impressionism with a technique that’s awash in fascinating forms of visual feedback. Patrick throws some deep shade on this scene with several idiosyncratic variations on the human figure.

From the Santa Barbara Independent

Multiplicity.  

Two Strong Group Shows  

By Charles Donelan,  Wednesday, May 2, 2012

LAUGHING LEGENDS: Local Legends is the tongue-in-cheek title of an excellent group show on view at Art From Scrap (302 E. Cota St.) through June 15. The talented assemblage artist Mary Price, who clearly knows her way around the upstairs gallery space at AFS, has done an outstanding job of integrating 65 works by Neal Crosbie, Brad Nack, Bill O’Malley (née McVicar), Ron Robertson, and Barry Spacks into a coherent and engaging totality. Seeing this quantity of work by these five artists curated into a real visual dialogue is…(click link for more).

LIGHT MEETS DARK: Meanwhile, a few blocks away at MichaelKate Interiors through June 18, Richard Phipps, Tara Patrick, Karin Aggeler, and Gary Paul are in an equally interesting group show that was curated by artist Brad Nack. Phipps borrows elements of a sculptor or a designer’s process and uses them to create beautiful, complex paintings that skirt the edges of surrealism and hard geometric abstraction. Everything works in these images, from the bold and unpredictable palette to the scale and exploitation of …(click link for more).