Setting the Mood
Ron Johnson
In his exhibition "New Work," Ron Arps entertains ideas between the abstract and the figurative. Through this exploration Arps creates a powerful and attractive sense of mood and place.
The 30 or so paintings in the exhibition span only a year and are varied yet connected. The exhibition includes abstracts, which give the impression of vanishing landscapes and figurative works that leave the viewer engaged with the subject. His figurative works, all female, follow an interesting path as singular figures set in a serene space. All of the figures seem committed to their quiet contemplative area. The abstract works are mysterious and alluring, playing off the figurative works as if the human forms have vanished.
The real strength in these works is that Arps knows how to paint. There is a delicate lusciousness to his application and handling of the medium. The surfaces are magical in many ways, even radiating. Brush strokes are occasionally visible but eventually disappear in the in the dark moody tones. Arps’ strongest paintings are the ones that have more of an earthy palette, such as Stay or Leave. In this painting, like other paintings, the ambience is created not only through the image, but through the paint as well.
In some of the more recent works Arps has painted on plaster and intentionally cracked the surface and humpty-dumptied it back together. The effect is one of old Renaissance master paintings, where age and weathering have taken their toll. But in these works there is a sense of irony as Arps controls, to some extent, where the cracks are and how many are made. The irony comes in the fact that he is in some way an art conservator restoring his own work.
Even though Arps’ influences are recognizable, such as Gustav Klimt and Aubrey Beardsly, it is too easy to associate these figures to his work. He is able to absorb influences and regard and disregard them to come up with his own unique sensibility. He is able to fuse melancholy and decorative spaces that are engaging and intimate but also haunting.
Arps’ paintings are like candle-lit dinners in dark, shadowy restaurants where the music is low but audible, the aroma emanates but is not overbearing and all senses are awakened. For a second it is as if time slows down, surrounded and part of the moment, the mood is set.
