Mercedes Matter at Salander-O'Reilly and the New York Studio School - New York, New York - Review of Exhibitions - Brief Article

Art in America, Dec, 1996 by Vincent Katz

Mercedes Matter, who co-founded the New York Studio School in 1964, was the subject of two exhibitions, one devoted to painting, the other to large-scale charcoal drawings, most of them on canvas. Both presented mature work from an artist who assisted Fernand Leger on a WPA Mural Project and studied with Hans Hofmann in the '30s, before showing at the Stable and Tanager galleries in the '50s.

Ten medium-sized paintings, all oil on linen, were on view at Salander-O'Reilly. Only two, one from 1964-66, the other from 1986, were dated, making it difficult to draw conclusions about changes over time. Most of the paintings are squarish horizontals; only two are vertical. They are uniform in style, but have great variety in terms of color, paint application and use of white space. Matter never seems to use a brush wider than half an inch. There is no smearing, blending, or scraping, just the naked array of strokes allowed to speak for themselves.

All the images appear to be abstract, but sometimes one can make out elements of still life. In Untitled (#9), 44 by 48 inches, for example, an inkwell, two bowls of fruit and a bouquet of flowers, among other objects, can be discerned. The colors are particularly vibrant in this painting--high-chroma reds, purples, oranges, greens and blues. The colors in Untitled (#10), 42 by 52 inches, take a more pastel route, with light pink, lavender, blue and yellow applied tentatively across the canvas, and lots of white ground showing.

These works have a cubistic element, with straight dabs indicating curved surfaces. A few bits of colored tape are visible on each canvas. In all the paintings, even the most turgid ones, the surfaces are not impastoed. A powerful interaction between strokes vigorously leads the eye back and forth. At the same time, a determined almost calligraphic, aspect to their application conveys a feeling of control. Yet there is something hectic and unsettled about these works that holds one's interest. It is as though they themselves don't know quite where they are going. They refuse to lie down and be categorized.

At the New York Studio School, 21 charcoal drawings--five on paper, the rest on canvas--stood remarkably as equivalents to, rather than studies for, the paintings. Except for one drawing on paper, dated "1950s," the rest are slotted between 1978 and 1996. Unlike the paintings, however, they are titled. Three are called Figure Drawing and the rest Still Life.

It is thus revealed that Matter's subjects are indeed still lifes. She takes them in and out of focus, however, at times allowing the bowls of fruit and bouquets of flowers to emerge clearly. At other times, she turns these subjects into twisted frenzies that can bring to mind the apocalyptic futurism of Matta.

The small figure drawings on paper are likewise explicit, revealing nudes whose breasts, stomachs, legs and crania are rendered economically by direct unfussed strokes of charcoal. Having had these human forms revealed to us, we see, or believe we see, human aspects in other, more abstract, works.

Some of the drawings on canvas rely on sure, isolated charcoal lines to make their statements, while others, such as Still Life (#8-12) use smudging, smearing, erasing and, at times, white highlights, to create an effect that is even more painterly than some of the paintings. The interaction between black and white--the often brusque, challenging strokes of charcoal, and the delicate yet persistent lines of white erasure--is formidable, leading one to wonder whether Matter is not stronger in the absence of color where she is free to engage in the formal dialogues that so intrigue her.