Pastels, Bronzes And Fire

At The White Gallery in Lakeville, “Abstraction Expression” brings together Timothy P. Cahill, an in-your-face artist of the Rauschenberg school, and Penny Cahill, a subtler painter of nature and natural objects. Cahill, who works in a variety of media — film, video, painting and photography — here exhibits a collection of pastels, many quite large. Pastel sticks contain pure powdered pigment, usually in a very light binder, so that color, usually laid on paper, can be smudged by the artist for effect and meaning. While pastel sticks are close to pure pigment, on paper they often seem translucent and more delicate than one would expect, even in aggressive pictures such as Cahill’s. Swirls and loops of color with lots of black and charcoal define Cahill’s work at the White. “Fly Open” is the only photograph in the show, which is too bad, since of all the artist’s work, his mixed media based on photography is both the most accessible and the best I think. Hopefully the Galluzzos will bring some of those pictures to a future show. Penny Putnam is a painter of mystery. Her pictures are soft, luminous, heavily layered. Watercolor is combined with pastel and often collage to render gently poetic images. Often, as in the rather wonderful “Red River,” the landscape is obvious yet abstracted into a memory of dunes, grasses and even a red sail. More usual are geometric abstracts, still gentle and nuanced, that capture moments and places in shapes, splotches and even drips. At The Morrison Gallery in Kent, William Morrison has extended his lovely show of Kirill Doron paintings and Joy Brown sculptures until Aug. 21. (A show of early Cleve Gray will open Aug. 27.) Doron, who emigrated from his native Russia as an adult, is widely known for his Connecticut landscapes and charming still lifes. Doron lives in New Milford and spends hours every week cruising the countryside in search of subjects — barns, farm equipment, abandoned structures — in just the right light. In his studio he paints ordinary objects: – shovels, buckets, watering cans. All are painted directly on board or on canvas, which he then mounts on board. Brown, a Kent resident, grew up in Japan, where her parents were medical missionaries. her pieces of clay or, more compellingly bronze, can be hand-sized or larger than life. The figures are all rounded: Eyes in spherical heads are small holes, mouths oblong rounded slits; arms and legs, body trunks curved; there are no bony angles. The gentleness and calm are palpable. Her people welcome you. Already represented in Shanghai’s International Sculpture Park, Brown casts and fires most of her domestic work in Kent, only once a year, in a large, shed-like anagama kiln that she and friends spent five years building. Fueled by stacks and stacks of wood, the kiln reaches over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, takes many days to cool and leaves a wonderful residue on the hardened pieces. “Abstraction Expression” will be at The White Gallery’s Lakeville location, 342 Main St., until early September. Summer hours are FridaySun., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 860-435-1029. The Doron-Brown show at Morrison Gallery, 8 Old Barn Road in Kent, runs through Aug. 21. Call 860- 927-4501.