THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407060121
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
AN UNUSUAL ART SHOW will open Sunday at the Suffolk Museum.
Displays by three two-dimensional artists and two three-dimensional artists will continue through Aug. 7. The whimsical and contemporary exhibit, sponsored by the Suffolk Art League, is called ``3x2 & 2x3.''
The regional 2-D artists are Ricardo Alma, Kerry Mitchell and Dixon Morrow. The 3-D work is by Liz Greene and Spike Splichal.
Do not look for serene scenes, bowls of fruit, or wheat waving in the wind. Do look for artistry that will make you think, guess, wonder and maybe gasp a bit.
Morrow, who delights in being controversial, covers such topics as sex, law, crime, religion and punishment, offered in what he calls ``a comic-surreal manner.''
One of his milder offerings is called ``Peanut Rolls.'' The artist described it as ``my tamest, most conventional work - a cartoon landscape - magic peanut rolls.
``You'll have to come to the Suffolk Museum to see the more shocking, ambiguous cartoon creatures that hide behind them,'' Morrow said. ``They shatter all conventional norms.''
Morrow, a Suffolkian, teaches art in Franklin and has exhibited his works in many regional shows.
Greene, an Albuquerque, N.M., native who has lived in Hampton Roads for 20 years, teaches, studies and exhibits her work in the area.
Splichal, whose polymer clay sculptures were exhibited in the Suffolk Museum several months ago, says he is inspired by Picasso.
The subjects of most of his sculptures - detailed realistic miniatures - are female. Some of his whimsical sculptures incorporate animals.
``When a smile appears on faces while looking at my work, or when a little one says `let me see, let me see,' I know I've done my job,'' Splichal said.
The Nebraska-born artist, who lives in Portsmouth, is self-taught. His works of art have been exhibited across the country.
Alma's work is described by Linda Bunch, administrative assistant of the Suffolk Art League, as ``predominantly primitive and abstract, sometimes seasoned with a bit of contemporary.''
This is accomplished ``by introducing realism into the essentially primitive and abstract acrylic paintings,'' said Alma, a New Yorker living in Williamsburg.
He mixes complex and simple ideas by using shapes matching those descriptions. He incorporates symbolism, texture, illusion, repetitive motif, geometric shapes, simple lines ``and most important - color, color, color'' into his work, Alma said.
Mitchell's work is composed primarily of computer-generated, mathematically-inspired abstract images.
``His work powerfully reflects the beauty of mathematics that is often obscured by dry formulae and analysis,'' Bunch said.
The Des Moines, Iowa, native, who has a graduate degree in aerospace engineering, works at NASA Langley Research Center.
Mitchell, like Alma, considers mathematics an important part of art.
``Mathematics is, in many cases, a metaphor for the beauty and complexity in life,'' Mitchell said. ``That is what I try to capture.'' MEMO: ``3x2 & 2x3'' opens Sunday and continues through Aug. 7 at the
Suffolk Museum, 118 Bosley Ave. It is sponsored by the Suffolk Art
League. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and
1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. For information call 925-6311. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Dixon Morrow with his 2-dimensional ``Peanut Rolls.''
by CNB