Curt Opliger

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  print December 1963

  Fa­ralla

  To immediately associate the constructions of San Francisco sculptor Faralla with those of Louise Nevelson is perhaps inevitable since both work with scraps of wood of all sizes and shapes, arrang­ing them into intricate patterns and blanketing the whole with a single, solid, velvety color. But the parallel ends there, for where Nevelson concen­trates on more formalized effects, Fa­ralla often explodes with a profusion of rhythmic projections evoking a wealth of responses. One may envision fabulous many-faceted gems, or the agonizing whirls of sunspots, or the soaring ac­tivity of Rauen Cathedral

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  print December 1963

  Gregory La­Chapelle

  A curious aspect of the recent sculptures by 33 year old Gregory La­Chapelle is their immediate adjust­ment to all tastes. The small cameo-like reliefs portray mysterious red cliffs har­boring within their depths precisely modeled miniature cliff-dwellings of Pueblo Indians of the American South­west. At first they seem uncompromis­ingly traditional but before long a kin­ship to the emphatic realism of “pop” art conditions the former impression and arouses doubt as to the artist’s intent. His explanation: a simple con­cern with archaeology which he at­tempts to maintain on a light, amateur level