The two-artist exhibit titled "Impressions" at the Bernice Kish Gallery at Slayton House makes it clear that the abstract paintings by Joanna Kos and realistic photographs by Bruce Blum reflect very different impressions of nature.
At first glance, you might think that Kos' oil paintings are complete abstractions. The orbs, arcs, triangular shapes and painterly washes are so tightly packed together in her compositions that they qualify as imaginative landscapes that only exist in the artist's mind. Although her palette contains its share of assertive blues and yellows, the overall effect is subdued and even meditative.
Take a slightly longer look and you start to notice the natural references. These are relatively straightforward in "Immersed in Autumn," in which the shades of yellow and brown are apt colors for the outlined little leaves that seemingly fall through an otherwise abstract composition. Even more pronounced is the grayish-white tree trunk that grows right in the middle of "Dancing Tree." That tree trunk twists and turns slightly, explaining the dance reference in the painting's title.
Other paintings aren't nearly as blunt with the natural imagery. "Arctic Landscape" gives a basic sense of an icy plain topped by a big sky, but it primarily evokes its setting through the chilly blues and whites that are just about the only colors deployed. "The Hottest Hour of the Day" features a white-hot orb to the far left and a silhouetted urban skyline to the far right of an image that otherwise is a desert-evocative plain comprised of painterly horizontal bands.
You won't really find any representational references in "Squirrel Chase," but the densely packed and energetically painted patches of assorted colors do manage to conjure up a sense of some kind of activity.
Kos frees up her imagination even more in several paintings that completely leave earth behind. "Space Landscape" has planetary orbs and galaxy-resembling painterly swirls that put you in the right frame of mind, but it's a starry scene that does not directly correspond to what you would see through a telescope.
If her paintings are abstract responses to the natural world, Blum's photographs are extremely realistic depictions of flowers. These are such sharp close-ups that they prompt you to notice floral details that you might gloss over during a garden tour.
In "Red Rose," the individual petals are so crisply defined that you may find yourself trying to count all of them. Likewise, subjects including "Cup Magnolia," "Dogwood," "Iris" and "Chrysanthemum" make you consider their respective shapes and colors. In the case of the shots of flowering "Oregano" and "Basil," you get extremely close-up views of herbs that you tend to think about primarily in terms of their leaves.
Blum generally presents a single flower in each large photograph, and he also likes to feature these isolated specimens against nearly all-white or all-black backgrounds. They make a vivid impression, that's for sure.
Joanna Kos and Bruce Blum exhibit through Jan. 28 at the Bernice Kish Gallery at Slayton House, at 10400 Cross Fox Lane in the Wilde Lake Center in Columbia. Call 410-730-3987 or go to http://www.wildelake.org.