ADVERTISEMENT

    Katherine Kadish: Looking Back, Moving Forward

    It’s been a long winter. It’s been a cold winter and it’s been a grey winter. It’s also been a winter that doesn’t appear to be in any particular hurry to leave. Even as I type this (ten days into spring?), there is snow on the ground. Perhaps that’s why Katherine Kadish’s new paintings and prints currently on view in Looking Back, Moving Forward offer such a breath of fresh air. In their dense compositions and cacophony of color these works provide a glimpse of nature we’ve been missing in central Ohio for far too long.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Of course Katherine Kadish is no stranger to nature. She’s an artist based in Yellow Springs who’s been presenting the vitality and complexity of the natural world for decades. Kadish’s paintings and monotypes depict nature from that rich vantage point that exists somewhere between representation and abstraction. I say rich because it’s a place that offers plenty of room for exploration; exploration of both the natural world and exploration of paint and ink. I’d suggest that this duality is the greatest strength of Kadish’s work. They balance natural forms with the acts of painting and printmaking in a way that immerses viewers in the beauty of both.

    Night Blooms (pictured up top) illustrates this balance perfectly. In this large diptych the over sized flora are thrust to the fore and bursting off the edges of the canvas. These blooming plants stand larger than life. They jostle for position and intertwine; dominating the picture plane in a riot of vines and leaves set against an inky blue moonlit pool. It’s what nature looks like. It’s what nature does. At the same time, the act of painting is just as apparent. Paint drips and runs. Brushstrokes overlap and blend. Colors complement and contrast in service of balance and composition. That’s what painting does. That Kadish can present both the form (painting) and the content (nature) in such perfect balance – in a way that doesn’t subjugate one to the other – is testament to her gift as an artist.

    Snake-RiverKadish’s monotypes strike a similar chord. They capture the essence of the natural world in a way that also highlights this unique form of printmaking. Most fine art prints are created as multiples struck from a single plate. As a result, prints from a particular edition are all more or less identical. Monotypes are different in that they offer only one print per plate. Once a print is made, the plate has been spent. Inherent in this process is an element of surprise. Without benefit of test pressings or “artist’s proofs” the artist can never be entirely sure what the plate, ink and paper will produce. Kadish uses this built-in serendipity to her advantage, creating works that are organic in both what they depict and how they are created.

    Of course it’s impossible to talk about Katherine Kadish without talking about color. Kadish employs a palette that is full of surprises. For as much naturalism as she employs, Kadish regularly resists the temptation to settle on the natural color of objects. She opts instead to create in a language of complementary colors and contrasting values. This approach creates a frenetic energy in Kadish’s best works, offering images that weave themselves together in a most organic way.

    There’s also something very traditional in what Kadish is doing; traditional at least in the way that 20th-Century modernism has become traditional. One can’t help but notice nods toward Fauvism, Abstract Expressionism, and the Blue Rider Group. Similarly, Kadish references artists from Kandinsky and Gauguin up to Cy Twombley (particularly his later flower paintings). This isn’t a bad thing. So much contemporary painting favors the slick and polished that it’s refreshing to see an artist push paint around with such verve and abandon.

    Garden-in-Green-Red-and-Yellow

    While most of Looking Back, Moving Forward focuses on Kadish’s most recent works, a side room at the gallery presents a number of older works. These pieces focus on the human form and show the artist exploring that same intersection of subject matter and the application of paint.

    In Looking Back, Moving Forward we are presented with a number of opportunities; the opportunity to see nature anew, to revel in the process of creation, and perhaps most importantly, to enjoy the work of an artist who continues to explore and grow. I’d suggest taking advantage.

    Looking Back, Moving Forward will be on view at Angela Meleca Gallery through April 19th, 2014. For more information visit www.angelamelecagallery.com.

    Image credits:

    Garden in Green, Red and Yellow
    Katherine Kadish
    2013
    Monotype
    25″ x 35.5″

    Night Blooms
    Katherine Kadish
    2014
    Oil on canvas (diptych)
    48″ x 80″

    Snake River
    Katherine Kadish
    2014
    Oil on canvas
    52″ x 52″

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Subscribe

    More to Explore:

    Sarah Maldoror: Tricontinental Cinema at the Wexner Center for the Arts

    Sarah Maldoror, a pioneer of African cinema and Black...

    Report: Columbus Values Public Art, Needs More of it in More Places

    Yesterday, the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) unveiled the...

    Art Review: Meanwhile and Painting for a Space at Beeler Gallery at CCAD

    Beeler Gallery at Columbus College of Art and Design...

    The Top 10 Columbus Festivals of 2023

    Columbus has a lot of great festivals all year...

    The Top 10 Columbus Cultural Institutions of 2023

    There are a lot of great museums, event venues...
    Jeff Regensburger
    Jeff Regensburger
    Jeff Regensburger is a painter, librarian, and drummer in the rock combo The Christopher Rendition. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts (Painting and Drawing) from The Ohio State University in 1990 and an Master’s Degree in Library Science from Kent State University in 1997. Jeff blogs sporadically (OnSummit.blogspot.com), tweets occasionally (@jeffrey_r), and paints as time allows.
    ADVERTISEMENT