Viewer, get thee to Argazzi Art in Lakeville for a real treat, where six eclectic artists somehow manage to complement one another beautifully. In the front room, John Maggiotto’s elegant silver gelatin on marble — essentially, photographs developed on marble — will be familiar to many. Now he’s developing on colored marble, as well, lending some surprising yet subtle variations to his scenes of horses’ heads and wonderful iconic views of New York City. Lake-ville artist Etienne Delessert fills the center room with recent works, that all have to do with fire; they are frightening but also at times comical. "Run Rabbit Run!" (watercolor) is a bunny running with his nose on fire; "Black Tulip" (acrylic on panel) is an up-close view of that flower on a bed of soft pink, with fire running up through the middle of the petals. Like all of Delessert’s works, these are imaginative, humorous and vaguely spooky.
Four pieces of Sherman Nobleman’s "Burnished Series" share the back room with the intricate works of Jaq Belcher. Nobleman’s large paintings are luminous and complex; the effects are achieved by a layering of gold, silver and bronze powders suspended in solutions. In "Burnished Series 76," silvery grays melt into a background of pale cream, like walking into a fine mist. "Burnished Series 58" plays with sunrise colors: soft pinks, robin’s egg blue. These paintings feel simple, yet are both physically and metaphorically many-layered. As are the paper cutouts by Jac Belcher, which share the space. With a graphite pencil, the artist first draws a repetitive pattern of small shapes on heavy white paper, then cuts the shape with an exacto knife, lifting the cut portion but leaving it attached to the paper, rendering a three-dimensional work in white that casts tiny shadows at each cut. They are intricate and stunning; one, "A Fine Line," took the artist 32 hours to complete. The work of both these artists play beautifully with light. Ann Mallory’s "Contemplative Vessels," rounded sculpture "bundles" in pastel colors tied with copper wire, are also on view here.
Valerie Leonard literally plays with toys; the artist uses miniature plastic figures, which she calls iconic, to create variations on the American flag, perhaps the most iconic item in our culture. Thus she creates flags from small Barbie dolls, tiny plastic babies and plastic toy solidiers. "Large Gray Flag" is just that: hundreds of plastic soldiers form the stripes and stars of a flag painted in shades of gray. Subtle but powerful. Through Aug. 27. Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. www.argazziart@sbcglobal.net. Tel.:860-435-8222.
