Kahn, who many consider the contemporary equivalent to Degas in pastel, spent the summer spread out across various locations on and around the Dartmouth campus.
The Spheris Gallery off of Main Street in Hanover is now showing the work of local artists Wolf Kahn and Ray Ruseckas, in a self-titled, dual exhition of their recent work.
For decades, Kahn, an artist-in-residence at Dartmouth in 1984, has been drawn to the vibrant landscapes that create the College's idyllic surroundings. Kahn recently recruited long-time friend, the painter Ray Ruseckas, to share an exhibition with the hopes that their pastel lanscapes perspectives would prove complementary.
Azariah Aker, associate director of the Spheris gallery, explained that "They were looking for a juxtaposition, for two view points that are very different, that reveal the range that pastels can represent."
What resulted was a presentation of recognizable local scenes refracted through each artist's distinct lens.
The gallery offers its guests a map that numerically locates the subject of each painting, rooting the paintings in the familiar scenery of the Hanover area, and drawing the audience closer to this work.
Kahn highlights his paintings with vibrant colors and spontaneous, almost abstract strokes. Spheris advertises Kahn's work as "a synthesis of modern abstract painting that draws on a combination of other formal disciplines."
Although figurative and basically traditional, Kahn's work evokes Mark Rothko and the Field Color style of contemporary art. He makes the unusual choice to explore the dichotomy of realism and abstraction within the landscape piece. Ruseckas', by contrast, takes a more organic approach to the same landscape.
He applies heavy amounts of pastel into long-fibered paper for a rich and dynamic effect. He selects a palette of earth tones, opting for deep purples, oranges, grays and greens to create a moody, contemplative impression of the landscape.
By presenting these two artists' work side by side, the gallery invites viewers to compare the pieces on view.
"People have been able to respond to the range of the medium of pastel," Aker says. "They can see within a single medium the many ways pastels can be portrayed."
While Kahn's work may give a more spontaneous, whimsical impression of the landscape, the rich application and texture of Ruseckas' pastels provide a truer depiction of the Hanover area and the majestic ambience of the region.
The viewer witnesses the perspective and range of the pastel medium through the pairing of the two artists' works.
Looking at a picture of a building drawn by two different hands in Kahn's Language Orientation Center and Ruseckas' Bartlett Hall, for example, it becomes apparent how differently two paintings can treat perspective when dealing within the same medium.
Other paintings are compare perspectives on Occum Pond, the athletic fields, Baker Library and Dartmouth Hall.
While Kahn emphasizes the prominence of buildings in the landscape, Ruseckas favors the isolation and grandeur of the surrounding wilderness.
We see an example of this by comparing the impression of Ruseckas' Reed, Thornton, Dartmouth, Wentworth and Rollins Chapel with Kahn's Back Entrance of Thorton Hall. While Ruseckas isolates the stretch of buildings across the distance of the Green, Kahn glorifies the height and window of the back of Thornton Hall.
In The Observatory, Kahn uses pastel to suggest the prominence of the curve of the College observatory rotunda resting upon the slope of the hilltop. Ruseckas opts instead to focus on layering pastels of the surrounding trees in order to highlight the isolation of the Shattuck Observatory.
While Ruseckas' pastels give an atmospheric impression of foliage around the rich-red earthen building, Kahn uses bare paper and a quick stroke in order to distinguish the building amongst isolated trees.
"Ray Ruseckas & Wolf Kahn" is on display at the Spheris Gallery, 59 South Main Street in Hanover, through Oct. 8. It is open Tuesday through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
