Suzanne Gold, “The Deep End,” 2016.
RECOMMENDED
The screen-printed fabric pieces in “At your own risk” are arranged in a narrative, prompting viewers to channel the experience of submerging into a swimming pool. The titles of the work help that story along, from “You, at the edge” to “Submerging.” Hung throughout the Logan Square gallery, the paintings are meant to evoke a sense of danger in the viewer, as partly evidenced from the show’s title. The pieces never let the viewer out of the water, none of their perspectives show the line where the water breaks and the above-ground world begins. In some works, such as “The feeling of being watched,” the shadow of a looming figure can be seen on the pool’s floor.
Gold is superb at illustrating light play on the water’s surface and the way a body moving through a pool disrupts its stillness. The work here is not the Chicago-based artist’s first foray into the interiors of swimming pools. Gold, who earned an MFA at the School of the Art Institute last year, explored small pools in a screen-print-on-cotton series, and large pools in a screen-print-on-canvas series. The “Large Scale Pools” series in particular is striking; the screen prints are so rich and detailed they resemble photographs. At Comfort Station, the work is more painterly. The close-up detailed pieces seem flat and abstracted. The colors here are not quite as full, as in “The Deep End,” the blues and blue-greens look faded, as if bleached by the sun.
Suzanne Gold, installation view of “At your own risk,” Spring 2016.
Although the artist hints at danger, the colors and brightness of the work seem to offer a contradiction. The pool here appears to be seen on a bright day, ideal for swimming. The cool, watered-down blues and greens evince a calming quality. Only the paintings with a shadow figure seem ominous and more open to interpretation. Amid such gloomy days as we have seen recently in the city, “At your own risk” is definitely worth a viewing. The warmth radiating from the paintings are a welcome reminder that summer isn’t just a faint memory. (Kerry Cardoza)
Through April 24 at Comfort Station, 2579 North Milwaukee.
Related Stories
A Pleasant Summer Dip: A Review of “A Sag, Harbored” at Western Exhibitions Inspired by Michelle Grabner, this is a fun show about stuff that hangs and sags.
Showcasing the Sophistication of Medieval African Art: A Review of Caravans of Gold at the Block Museum This exhibition is a landmark attempt to show the sophistication of medieval African art and to place the cultures of Saharan Africa in dialogue with medieval Europe.
More Inspiration Than Comfort: A Review of Jackie Saccoccio at Rhona Hoffman Gallery Saccoccio makes paintings that stimulate and energize with vibrant abstraction.
Vibrant Colors Offer Domestic Comfort: A Review of “Soak.Stroke.Scratch.” at Melanee Cooper Gallery Three painters offer colorful comfort for morning, evening and night.
"Red Summer Road Trip": Jefferson Pinder Interprets the Violence of 1919 As the one hundredth anniversary of the 1919 Chicago Riots arrives, a cohort of organizers, archivists, sociologists, writers, artists and others work to ensure that its incidents are not forgotten.
An Experiment in Curation: A Review of "With a Capital P" Six local painters were asked to fill a room in the Elmhurst Art Museum with whatever art they wanted—the only requirement being that they include at least one of their own works.
