A review from the Mid-Ocean News September 1 2006

Marson's exhibit is one of the year's best

ART REVIEW
by Andrew Trimingham

Oil paintings by Chris Marson at the Bermuda Showcase at the Lighthouse Restaurant

It goes without saying that the exhibition of oil paintings by Chris Marson at the Bermuda showcase at the Lighthouse Restaurant is one of the outstanding art shows of the year. It's certainly falls into the "must-see" category. It demonstrates convincingly that an artist long known for his distinguished watercolors can make the transition to the very different challenges posed by the oil media almost triumphantly.

Given the limited space in the gallery it is inevitably a small show of only 18 paintings and all of these are themselves small. This presents a challenge of sorts in that those of us with the the visual problems associated with advancing age must look at almost every painting both from a distance and then close up with our reading glasses on. For an artist so gifted at the spare references and fine tonal qualities that distinguish his watercolors I was a little surprised that I found a close-up inspection of most of these paintings was more rewarding than a more distant study.

The two largest paintings, though by no means large by general oil painting standards, were exceptions. The outstanding work in this outstanding show was Malabar Reflections and it was sold at the opening reception. For the interpretation of mood, the tonal qualities, and the superb brushwork this is certainly a very marked step forward in Mr. Marson's development of his oil technique. On the strength of this one painting alone I would strongly edge the artist to move on to larger canvases.

The other work of similar size, to the dunes, is almost equally evocative of mood, it is more attuned to the subject matter familiar in his watercolors. What this work achieves that varies from his watercolors, where the eye is usually drawn from shading to light, is a sense of unfolding mystery into which the viewer is drawn. This is also the case in the much smaller Railway Trail, Somerset and to a less extent in Pasture, one of several paintings done in the American Midwest.

This foray into what one suspects was unfamiliar territory for the artist gave him a challenge that seemed to me to have been well met and even surmounted. In some cases I felt that he became overwhelmed by the vastness of the prairie, particularly in Where prairie dogs go. In this work the skyscrapers of the city in the distance are dwarfed to the point of compositional imbalance by the sweep of the hillside in the foreground.

Bermuda is a confining island for all of us, but particularly for artists.

They become comfortable with our unusual light quality and familiar with our water, bays and islands. It is therefore a valuable experience to tackle the quite different qualities of space and light he found elsewhere. I have been urging Sheila Head to go to the American southwest to paint for years, but she hasn't made it yet. It would suit her style of painting perfectly and the market for such work is huge.

Much of the rest of Chris Marson's work was somewhat more conventional and I had some reservations about his treatment in oil of our traditional architecture. When this is the subject of his watercolors his exceedingly spare technique lightens up the perceived weight of stone underlying our building style. In his oils, however how traditional architecture seems to become somewhat clumsy.

However basic our building of the early years may have been, it proportions almost invariably had a natural grace that lent the stone a perceived lightness belied in actuality by the reality of its solidity. This may have been because the people who build houses also built the ships and the necessary eye for beauty of line carried over into their buildings. Whatever the cause, our architects of the present day seem to have no sense of grace of proportion whatever.

These are, however, minor cavils (my editor expects a reasonable number of words for my pittance). Taken as a whole this may be well one of the most important art exhibitions of the year. The development of an artist as good and as well-known as Chris Marson into something new and different and excellent as is this show should by no means be missed. Apart from being a pleasure to see, it is also an education in developing artistry.