The paintings of Joanne Calocerinos are characterized by various interlocking forms that are fashioned from bands of narrow ribbon-like strips of carefully gradated color. The absolute control of pigment, the geometrically inclined style, and particularly the holding of the color to accurate variations of tints and shades of either a monochromatic or analogous system, incline the viewer to react to the works in terms of the abstract classicists. Yet the potential “pretty color,” the excessive interwinding of form and, in the end, the titles (“The Testimony of a Soul,” “To a Nightingale,” “Compassion,” “Tenderness,” “Grace”) indicate that the painter is far more a romanticist than a classicist. The curious combination is only occasionally effective. The tightly filled canvases that either omit space or put it in harsh juxtaposition with form, become monotonous and seldom give visual realization to the content intended. Two of the more satisfying canvases are “The Fatal Hour” and “The Saint and the Sinner.” Even so, the fact remains that it is easier to become interested in Joanne Calocerinos who signs her paintings Kali (she has studied Hindu Philosophy and Metaphysics) and in her technique than in her product. She is reported to put her paint on the canvas and then push it with her brush, working on no more than a 3-inch square at a time, changing areas in which she works and still making the design converge. It does sound a bit awesome.

—Constance Perkins