Viewing a new exhibit by Stephen Cefalo at Little Rock's Gallery 26, one cannot help but experience a feeling of joy mixed with sadness.
"Recent Musings" will be the last Little Rock show before the artist moves to New York next month.
"I think it's an excellent move for my career," Cefalo says. "When I left New York, I had excellent connections. I began to flourish as an artist in Arkansas, developing and growing into my painting. As a more mature artist, I can make use of my resources in a better way there. This seems a natural next step for me."
In addition to painting, Cefalo will teach at the Teaching Studios of Art in Brooklyn and work as a studio assistant for the influential modern artist Jeff Koons, where he worked in 1999-2000.
Cefalo says he plans to continue showing his work at Gallery 26, owned by Renee Williams.
"Renee Williams is great; she's done more for me than any gallery I've worked with in the country," he says. "She's a great person and a great friend."
Williams, who has handled Cefalo's work for about six years, says, "His skill level is phenomenal. I'll certainly miss him personally."
Cefalo came to Arkansas in 2006 as an artist in residence at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and also has taught at the Arkansas Arts Center.
Inspired by the Old Masters of Europe, the symbolists and contemporary life, Cefalo is a superlative technician with an impeccable technique. But more than that, his oil paintings draw on contemporary life, mythology, family and relationships to present work that is at turns romantic, startling, emotional and absorbing.
"Recent Musings" seems focused on smaller-scale works that are more detailed, tighter, even more refined.
There is a significant presence of beautifully rendered drawings; one of the show's finest works is a luscious oil study titled Camille.
Particularly lovely is White Crow; a nude male, back to the viewer, sits on a ledge, a white crow resting on his wrist. It is subtly evocative of Maxfield Parrish's themes. A Parrish touch is also present in the clouds of the beautiful and romantic Red Scarf, a portrait of woman in a sailor suit with a red scarf tied around her neck.
Vanitas is a striking and powerful self-portrait that brings Rembrandt's self-portraits to mind. In this work, the artist is attired in a Dickensian-like hat and coat, a plaid scarf around his neck. Death -- in the form of a skeleton -- is at his back. It's a haunting work, a beautifully executed take on a familiar painting motif.
While Cefalo's presence in the arts community will be missed, "Recent Musings" is a memorable sendoff.
Also hanging at Gallery 26 is Robert Bean's recent work, "Morning Tides."
The acrylic painter seems focused on snapshots of daily life, such as a woman walking near a stained-glass window (Saturday Sanctuary). These moments or snapshots of daily life are places in the mind in his larger works, linked together with other moments, real and imagined. Also adding psychological and subconscious imagery, he seems to be giving us a visual impression of mental processing.
Bean's artistic vision is thoughtful and thoughtfully presented.
"Recent Musings," Stephen Cefalo, and "Morning Tides," Robert Bean; through July 11, Gallery 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., Suite 1, Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Info: gallery26.com, (501) 664-8996.
IT'S MAGIC
In magical realism (aka magic realism), the natural world -- what we believe to be the real world -- is infused or invaded by a seemingly magical event or quality that is unbelievable, strange; something that may unsettle, intrigue, puzzle or amuse us.
In painting, the term aptly describes the work of Arkansas native Carroll Cloar and others such as Frida Kahlo, Paul Cadmus and some works by Andrew Wyeth.
That concept is the subject of "Magic Realism" at Greg Thompson Fine Art.
Magical realism can be subtle. The work of Little Rock painter Sheila Cotton in particular suggests more than it shows. Even a seemingly placid, but undeniably beautiful landscape such as In the Summer of Swamp feels charged, rippling with mystery.
John Harlan Norris of Arkansas State University's art faculty is not so subtle, as his commanding oil Commenter shows. Norris' portraits focus on how people self-identify by their careers, interests or passions. This individual is a communicator who loves to talk as witnessed by an angular ball of mouths in various stages of expression around the head.
A number of the works here have hung in other shows, but are welcome returnees. None more than three Cloar works, along with Kendall Stallings' Wing Tips and Gary Bolding's Suburban Wasteland II. In Stallings' work, a pair of shoes sit on a ledge. Did the owner jump? Or are the shoes set out to dry? Bolding presents a strong visual definition of suburban alienation and isolation; the homes in this suburbia are literally islands separate from one another. It recalls, in style, rock album covers of the 1970s illustrated by Roger Dean.
Also showing at the Thompson gallery are a number of superb silverpoint drawings, part of a joint exhibition with Hearne Fine Art. More on that later.
"Magic Realism," through July 11, Greg Thompson Fine Art, 429 Main St., North Little Rock. "National Silverpoint Invitational Exhibit," through June 27. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. gregthompsonfineart.com or (501) 664-2787.
Email:
ewidner@arkansasonline.com
Style on 05/26/2015