Fascinating Art at Sharon Library

David James Valyou’s show at Sharon’s Hotchkiss Library comes into focus with extended viewing. His work is varied in medium, style and subject, and much of it requires looking until a click of recognition occurs. Suddenly you understand. Valyou is a fascinating artist, both serious and whimsical in various pieces, and much of his best work is traditional, even if it is painted on found wood and includes objects that inform both subject and shape. Take a tiny landscape study done in oil on panel. The sky, clouds and land are pure Impressionism in grays and greens. Close by are two constructions centered on panels painted in roiling color that suggest small fishing boats in water: One includes a wooden dowel and fishing weight; the other, two dowels at angles and two holes in the panel, perhaps the eyes of the big fish you feel lies under the water. Then there are the two thick wood panels painted in vaguely Oriental style that may be maps of some imagined land and water. One has pieces, perhaps from a geographical jigsaw puzzle, glued on top. The other, looking very Japanese, has lovely, fragile green vines painted on the “map” that includes landlocked bodies of water. In the mid-2000s Valyou began to paint ghostly pictures that recall Goya and Velasquez. Women with skulls for heads are painted and drawn in pencil, costumed in severe court dress and rendered in pale greens and ivory. They can remind you of the central princess in “Las Meninas.” Earlier, in the 1990s, Valyou produced some fascinating work in ink on paper. Using many thousands of small black rectangles and swirls, he made flat images of surreal, fantastical scenes — people and objects in midair or unnatural positions — that had a bit of Steinberg in their flat, rounded faces always in profile. Both “Let Go!” and “Piano Man” are terrific, while “Death of a Scarecrow” calls up associations with witchcraft. Finally, there are Valyou’s excursions into whimsical made objects and pieces. A slice of birthday cake is made from pieces of a worn teddy bear whose ear and eye can be seen — rather pitifully — on the side. In another, a tiny hammer lies on top of a matchbox-size toolbox, while a home sweet home sampler lies in front waiting to be hung. And on top of a little golden globe, a small, shiny black bear sits atop the world. One might say Valyou is too varied, but he is a real artist, and he is never boring. The David James Valyou show continues at The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon, through March 31. For hours call 860-364-5041 or go to www.hotchkisslibrary.org.