Rorschach tests and Bond Girls abound at Soo Visual Arts Center

Right now there are two solo shows at Soo Visual Arts Center. In the first gallery are Sean Connaughty’s large black and white paintings. Connaughty’s work deftly merges abstract expressionism with contemporary realism.

For his subject matter he uses tansy, bluegrass, poison hemlock, daisy, cowslip and many more. Connaughty’s process is to paint large panels white, and then apply streaky splotches of black paint. He then lays his images, usually organic matter, on the surface of the wet black paint. Connaughty waits till the paint dries, then sands and peels off the grass, herbs, flowers, twigs, etc. These imprints are almost photo real. What we see is the elegant aftermath, the imprint of our world, of nature, of life.

The majority of Connaughty’s work was created at the Blacklock Nature Sanctuary, where he was a 2003 artist fellow. From this artist residency Connaughty has created an urban interpretation of our natural landscape. In the chic confines of a contemporary gallery we see a fluid graceful tribute to life’s simple beauty, the things we step on and over every day.

Connaughty’s largest piece is an abstraction from a different series, a panoply of color peeking through big swirls of umber wash. We glimpse ochre through vast swatches of brown, blue and green washes with hints of red. Connaughty’s careful manipulation of negative and positive space creates an active composition. Swirling undulating masses of form take shape before our eyes. Staring at these paintings we think we see a face, a tree, something intangible. What we are seeing is the meditative quality of Connaughty’s imagery. He has created large peaceful Rorschach tests for us. Washes of swirling color, patches of darkness, scratchy lines skating the surface. These large organic color forms are about movement, a repast for the eye.

In the second gallery we see Lee Ann Swanson-Peet’s “Bond Girl: paintings,” inspired by the 007 films. You will recognize imagery from “Diamonds are Forever,” “Dr. No,” “The Spy Who Loved Me,” “The Man With The Golden Gun” and more.

Swanson-Peet’s extensive body of work contains more than 40 works of art. All her paintings are juicy and colorful. Swanson-Peet draws with graphite and paints with oil on board. She then seals the painting in epoxy, creating a lush surface that glistens and almost drips. “Watertower” is a gorgeous painting of red and white checked watertowers, with a splash of blue background. It is a landscape painting comparable to the masters.

A series of small square paintings are hung on a long wall to create an intimate groovy tableau. One small piece, “Composite,” from the “Spy Who Loved Me,” is unique to Swanson-Peet’s body of work. “Composite” is not a 3-D realistic painting, but more like a series of overlapped drawings. The first layer is a red background, on top of that the shape of a TV screen in blue, on top of that a drawing of a female in light blue line, with another female in yellow line on top of that. This piece shows an innovative use of line drawing, and is a bold departure from her other work.

“Wrong Way” is a very well executed, realistically rendered scene. Here we see a beautiful airport sign, a car and a tree line. “Wrong Way” really shows off Swanson-Peet’s painting skills.

Also interesting is a very large close up of an abstracted dog. The dog has a dark blue background, red mouth, and white-blue blurry fur. This piece gets you up close and personal with the animal, movement, teeth and all.

I love the way Swanson-Peet paints. Her subject matter is always clever and chic. She’s one of the “grooviest” painters in town.

Soo Visual Art Center is located on the corner of Lyndale Avenue South and 27th Street. Gallery hours: M, W, Th, F 12-6 Closed Tuesdays. Weekends 12-4. Gallery admission is free for all visitors during all hours of operation. The show runs through January 4, 2004.