By Alison Rooney
Who hasn’t ever been flummoxed by the hieroglyphics of the diagrams provided for items needing home assembly? Somehow, amidst the feelings of furious helplessness which inevitably follow, painter Eric Erickson has managed to translate them into different types of objects altogether.
In his exhibit, Diagrams, at the Buster Levi Gallery in Cold Spring through Oct. 1, the paintings might evoke these blueprints for frustration, but, turn them instead into asymmetrical compositions populated by familiar yet unidentifiable shapes, often placed along the edges of the canvas, sneaking in at the sides, puzzling the viewer in a positive way.
According to the gallery, the sources for Erickson’s work are often everyday objects such as faucets, lumber and bricks. It tells visitors:
Erickson employs these objects in fields of color that generally bare little or no content relationship to them,” it tells visitors. “Subjects that are glazed over, appearing like ghosts are contrasted with others that are either broadly painted or freely drawn with the brush that emphasizes the artist’s hand. In a similar fashion, one’s eyes travel through the paintings confronting detours and uncertain paths. There is no one-way to read the paintings, no central focus or subject. The paintings are adventures in seeing.
Erickson, whose work is in the print collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian Institution Department of Prints, has exhibited widely.
The Buster Levi Gallery is located at 121 Main Sat., Cold Spring and is open Friday through Sunday from 12 to 6 p.m. See busterlevigallery.com.
