Emily Mason Show

I went to Emily Mason's gallery opening on Saturday at the David Findlay Jr. Gallery in the Fuller Building on 57th St. The most successful works in the artist’s exhibition were her large and intensely saturated canvases. The aptly named Earthly Sun (2007) is a full-on explosion of bubblegum pinks, chrome oranges, and cadmium yellows with a touch of cerulean blue. The colors are washed across the canvas in easeful but controlled sweeps, unexpected at such a large scale. The brushstrokes are strong and daring but seem somewhat incidental to the use of color. The careful application of cerulean is a reprieve from the infinite desert sun; it is a cold glass of water to a long, hot day. At 4½’ by 6’ and brightly colored, the canvas is confrontational while Ms. Mason’s easy style ensures that it remains accessible and relatable. 

The exhibition taken as a whole focuses on Ms. Mason’s use of vibrant and nuanced colors: lime green, vermillion, Indian yellow, hot pink, and deep azure. Yet the artist’s work is not lost in color. Her paintings find their strength in the relationships the artist draws through the unanticipated juxtaposition of various elements in a work.  The colors, though saturated, are laid on the canvas as though the oil paint were as light as watercolor, effortlessly melting into one another in ink spill-like patterns. Each color, individually overwhelming, is tempered and enhanced by the artist’s choice of a color pairing. The structure and use of color in each work suggest both intention and spontaneity, cohesion and chaos, the natural and unnatural. Ms. Mason’s “Recent Paintings” succeeds due to her exploration of these dichotomous relationships. 

On the whole the exhibit was lovely and quite crowded. Most all the attendees I recognized as members of the artists family and friends, so I felt a bit out of place. But I really enjoyed myself all the same and loved getting to know Ms. Mason's work. 

Here's my favorite work, Earthly Sun: