At the Rex Evan’s Gallery both drawings and paintings are featured in the first Los Angeles showing of Jack Wise, whose very personal and intimate approach to art appears to be greatly affected by his involvement with Indian mysticism. His meditative drawings have the spontaneity of improvisation expanding with controlled energy to their ultimate point of rest. This is also true of the paintings, which, in their added color, and in some cases more formal structure, show him to be a fine craftsman as well as visionary artist. Certain planetary symbols and cosmic signs appear in many of the paintings, as in Memory of Atlantis. Burning of the Totems contains much of the fluid calligraphic drawing that is also an integral part of his style, as does White City, one of the most eloquently descriptive paintings in the show.
––Estelle Kurzen
