03 Oct 2019

Close to the Line: Mari Rantanen and Kirsten Reynolds

Housatonic Museum of Art

Reviewed by Michelle Weinberg

Curator Barbara O'Brien has brought together two artists working under the umbrella of geometric abstraction, and their successful pairing rewards the viewer with a highly personal approach to geometry. Mari Rantanen's canvases are composed of tightly interlocking shapes, employing precise color relationships that vibrate, expertly crafted by hand-grinding pigments with acrylic mediums. They dazzle the eye. Kirsten Reynolds has installed two large works of wood and laminate that challenge conventional ideas about the solidity of sculpture. They describe volumes and spaces by arranging painted linear and planar elements that frame open areas for viewers to move through.

Both artists share a love of curve, contour, and edge. Embedded in the smooth surfaces are references to vernacular sources: the hand-painted faux bois finishes in Reynolds' wood, the exclamation points and thought bubbles in Rantanen's images. The works exude lightness and humor, and their installation communicates beautifully with the proportions of the museum's architecture.