Los Angeles

Richard Poole, Heman, Harron Weinstein and Friesz

The Ryder Gallery

Another of the twice-a-year innumerable group exhibitions which are as seasonal as the season—and just as predictable. Richard Poole’s figurative studies in oil are expressionistic, forcefully painted, and economical. Windows, doors, walls and people are studies in geometric counterbalance. In many of the canvases he captures the mood of women caught in intimate, everyday postures and gestures. Set in an atmosphere of dark juxtaposed with light, the architectural figures often appear huddled and safe from outside pressures.

Heman’s “Sunset” is rendered in rich and thick jewel-toned impasto with expressionistic abandon. It is easy to identify with this painter’s work as there is an immediate transference of enthusiastic, skilled energy which demands visual participation.

Harron Weinstein’s “Forest Hills” is esthetically unsatisfying, falling into no particular category. Just over the borderline of the representational, one wonders if this is a return to the figurative or a departure. If cut in half the composition might make two successful paintings; joined they are inconclusive. Friesz is also among the exhibitors—his landscapes full of elements and rhythms, mostly monochromatic with splashes of spattered pigment.

Betje Howell