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Pavel Kraus at Bond

Art in America, Dec, 2005 by Edward Leffingwell

This recent exhibition featured six new shaped paintings, two sculptures and a group of works on paper by the Czech-born New York artist Pavel Kraus. Dominating the display were large paintings on transparent Mylar, collectively titled "Levitations" (all 2005). Each piece averages about 5 feet high, tapering from about 4 feet wide at the top to 2 feet wide at the bottom. They resemble cone-like wall sconces, and the colorful abstract shapes covering their surfaces appear to glow like stained glass windows. The installation, with the paintings spot-lit and lining both sides of the storefront gallery, evoked a medieval chapel. Adding to the show's ambience was a sound component, an almost ecclesiastical composition with several movements of altered voices by new-music composer and frequent Kraus collaborator Dennis Bathory-Kitsz.

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Lyrical and abstract, the Levitation paintings result from a rather unusual painting process in which the artist starts by placing the sheets on the floor and applying fluid gestures of brightly colored, poured and splattered pigments that flow into each other. Reversing the usual method of priming a canvas, Kraus finishes with a top coat of white that functions as a background to the colorful abstract compositions, which appear to be embedded in the material and are visible only from the work's unpainted side.

Once dry, the sheets are partially rolled into half-cones and attached to the wall, with the narrower opening at the bottom; they protrude from the wall more than a foot at the top. Some works, such as Levitation, Untitled #3, contain several nested cone shapes.

Known for large-scale sculptures in heavy substances such as lead and marble, Kraus developed the light and airy new works partly out of physical necessity, after a shoulder injury in the studio last year temporarily thwarted his use of weightier materials. Included in the show was one of Kraus's large-scale minimalist sculptures, Untitled (2001-02), installed in a corridor leading to a rear gallery. Here, four large slab-like beams are made of wood covered in beeswax, each 8 feet high by about 2 feet wide and 8 inches thick. With two elements leaning against each wall, the piece has a heavy, somber architectural feel that served as an effective counterpoint to the seemingly weightless and light-filled paintings.

Pavel Kraus at Bond

Art in America, Dec, 2005 by Edward Leffingwell

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