Ruchti's body of work at City Gallery

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
...And Then...: New Work by Jefry Ruchti
Through Sept. 27, 2008.
Meet the artist: Sat., Sept. 27, Noon—4 p.m.

Unlike the monochrome grays and blacks Jefri Ruchti worked with in previous shows at City Gallery in New Haven (see 495 Lines, reviewed here), the drawings in And Then... are in color. Most of them are drawn on Japanese paper using pastels.

Ruchti is caressing figurative curves. These aren't illustrations of the figure so much as abstractions where the modeling of the shadows, the twists and turns, suggest the figure. Along with the continuous tone areas of his drawings, Ruchti has added line scrawls in dark colors—purple, dark blue, black. In some drawings they serve to accentuate the continuous tone work, drawing out an edge. In others, they appear to be a private calligraphic language, perhaps commenting on the image.

The drawings are presented in series. When I was visiting the gallery, Ruchti pointed out to me how the "figure" in the five drawings that comprise "Green Blue 5" takes something of a 360-degree turn as the works are read left to right. With this set of drawings—the series that hints most at the realm of the erotic—the calligraphic marks suggest churning water.

There is a genuine gracefulness to Ruchti's modeled forms. I'm less satisfied with the calligraphic marks. While they add a strong, integrative sense of movement in "Green Blue 5," at other times I find them somewhat distracting.

There will be a Meet the Artist event on the closing day of the show, Sat., Sept. 27, from noon-4 p.m.