Ferlinghetti paints well, too
By: Murray Paskin
Special to The Examiner
November 18, 2009
 |
| Sense of mystery: “The Arrival (Provincetown)” is among the evocative paintings by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti on view at George Krevsky Gallery. (Courtesy photo) |
SAN FRANCISCO — His preference for the language of poetic imagery over literal description gives Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s writings the power to take readers on endless journeys of the mind.
That poetic sensibility applied to painting reveals a natural sense of color and of paint itself, endowing Ferlinghetti’s visual art with the same unforced richness that characterizes his poetry.
“Lawrence Ferlinghetti — Evolution of a Painter,” a retrospective of Ferlinghetti’s paintings on view at George Krevsky Gallery in San Francisco, includes 18 paintings from 1950 to the present, most of which have never been shown.
It is natural that work covering such a lengthy period should display a variety of styles, and one might expect such variations to be the result of increasing levels of mastery.
Such is not the case here. While some paintings may be technically superior, there are no noticeable changes in the artist’s proficiency through the years. His evolution is in the increasing breadth and freedom of his imagination. The works’ subjects compel his style, seemingly in response to his artistic need.
The pieces are not slick or polished, but simple and raw, expressing depth of feeling without artifice.
Although many of Ferlinghetti’s paintings contain references to myths and political, historical, artistic or personal events, they are never treated literally. Viewers rarely come away from a piece with an explicit idea of what it’s about — but feelings are evoked by color and use of paint, and a sense of mystery remains.
“The Arrival (Provincetown)” is a beach scene, with a figure in the distance waving to a woman in the foreground who is tethered to a boat. Aside from the figures, the most striking quality is the handling of the three colors in the painting. Thin color washes are sensitively brushed and edged; heavier paint is dense with deep color. Only the title gives an indication of the story.
A short Ferlinghetti quote says it all: “The painting can’t be explained. The best of them have a certain mystery about them that can’t be explicated. ... It is a mysterious process, painting. The figures, the creatures, the faces appear ‘out of nowhere,’ so to speak — messengers or harbingers from some other place or time.”
The painter obscures himself, yet the effective use of color and texture makes the works endlessly fascinating.
IF YOU GO
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Evolution of a Painter
Where: George Krevsky Gallery, 77 Geary St., San Francisco
When: 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; closes Dec. 19
Admission: Free
Contact: (415) 397-9748, www.georgekrevskygallery.com
