Reception for Cook, Saladyga shows at Kehler, Liddell Fri., Oct. 18

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Rod Cook: Masks
Gerald Saladyga: Dot Works 2000—2004
Oct. 10—Nov. 10, 2013.
Artist's Reception: Fri., Oct. 18, 6—9 p.m.

Press release from Kehler Liddell Gallery

Exhibits by Rod Cook (Masks) and Gerald Saladyga (Dot Works: 2000—2004) will be on view at Kehler Liddell Gallery in Westville from Oct. 10 through Nov. 10, 2013. There will be an artist's reception on Fri., Oct. 18, from 6—9 p.m.

Masks explores how the private condition is veiled by a façade or mask when presented to the public. Cook dove into the idea that how people outwardly represent themselves speaks more to how they wish to be received, rather than as an actual translation of what they consist of inside. He removes the external interferences and instead gives his models a literal mask to create an alternative expression, for Cook, a more genuine image of whom that person is or who they wish to be. The images capture the unique and fleeting moment when wearing a mask and little else, the true self can and will expose what is underneath. From behind the shrouded security of this alternate mask, the fashioned and orchestrated façade melts away and one’s hopes, fears, and fantasies are revealed.

Photograph by Rod Cook

Dot Works 2000—2004, artist Jerry Saladyga conjures the early American Luminist painters’ depictions of light the American landscape and seascape. Taking their initial representations and isolating the concept within a contemporary minimalist framework, his technique is to layer closely positioned dots of latex house paint with an eye dropper onto canvas, paper or wood and then to sand down to an equal depth. This creates a unique effect, evoking the simulation of particles of bright light, hazy light, gray light and night light. Saladyga developed this technique over four years and in the process realized the dots could be used to represent other images of the cosmos. The paintings evolved into fractured and symbolic depictions of land, sky, water and space. Aligned with the American Luminist painters who illustrated a new landscape for the first time, the process behind and the finished product of Dot Works is reminiscent of the beauty and joy of first sight and interpretation.

Painting by Gerald Saladyga