Matthew Landkammer at Davidson

The 12 paintings and two prints in Matthew Landkammer's recent exhibition, all from 2002, offer a refreshing retort to those who think that abstract art must be either fully systematic or wholly subjective. While he formerly combined beeswax, pigment and threads to create smooth, somewhat viscous surfaces on 3/4-inch-thick panels of Russian birch, in the new works diluted acrylic glaze is applied in bands of varying width and depth with a roller and brush. Paintings of 12 or 24 inches square, titled with numbers, elicit sensations of touch, light and color that avoid representation yet project faint allusions to nature. Color is the primary vehicle for the associations. From pale blue and violet through green, yellow and orange, each painting concentrates on gradations of one color in horizontal bands that curve upward slightly at the center. The 31-year-old Nebraska native may be recalling the limitless plains, as several critics have asserted. But the physical presence of the new paintings is far stronger than any residual suggestion of imagery.

The smaller paintings are braced to hang slightly away from the wall, and added to the interest of their monochrome bands are contrasting or near-complementary colors on the backs of the panels that faintly radiate onto the walls. The viewer enters into a quietly riveting luminous realm. Bright red is behind panels of spring green or blue; orange glows behind those using shades of blue; and variants of blue or violet create a barely perceptible aura behind a yellow work.

Landkammer achieves a breakthrough with three larger rectangular paintings whose edges--especially the left and right sides--radically curve outward from the wall. Here the backs are gessoed white, so attention is focused on the laminated triple-layer plywood supports, the curves of which seem to extend the painted horizontal bands. 01122902 uses the palest imaginable blue with white for the bands; 02111102 employs contrasting shades of white that appear immaculate yet never clinical or cold. One of the largest, 01122802, is also the brightest in color, built up of shades of pink. At 40 inches wide, and with projecting edges almost embracing the viewer who stands before it, the work has a theatrical quality; it is a commanding optical field that suggests a movie screen or theater curtain. The various formal powers are held in balance in these frank and thoughtful works, including the amusing pink hue, the pleasing proportions of the irregular-height bands and the emphatic deviation from conventional flatness.

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group