Reception: Thursday, February 9, 6 to 8 pm
We are pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition The Darker the Shadow, the Brighter the Light – recent figurative paintings by Louis Renzoni.
Using a color palette of dark blue, soft yellow, pink and white , Renzoni creates a noir atmosphere of women caught in a moment of transition. Ordinary routines appear slightly sinister. Small areas of light don’t illuminate but seem on the verge of being completely overwhelmed by darkness. Major characters, rather than being accented by shadows, are in and hidden by them. The paintings convey a specific mood, usually a kind of disturbing quiet. He calls it a flicker between the romantic and the ordinary.
In the largest paintings, the portraits are imbued with the glamour of old fashion movie heroines. The women appear doll-like with radiant cheeks and cherry lips. In several smaller works, faces are turned away and we are left to view shadows that become visual silhouettes. The closer one gets to the painting, the more blurred the imagery.
Renzoni’s preference for oblique lines, and the constant opposition of light and dark, creates the compositional tension that radiate from these paintings. Adding to the tension is Renzoni’s technique of painting in layers, sanding down, then repainting, a process that obliterates certain details but leaves smoky shadows in the background.
Louis Renzoni is a New York based, Canadian born artist who has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally. He is in numerous private and public collections.
For futher information, please contact the gallery.