Arts and Culture
Of Pixels And Pedestals
By: Mallory Politz, For The Bulletin
01/09/2008

Philadelphia - The Wexler Gallery has launched into 2008 with a small but impressive exhibition of two 20th-century icons.

During January and February, Wexler will be home to half a dozen pieces each by acclaimed photorealist painter Chuck Close and revolutionary art furniture designer Wendell Castle. Although the works are few in number, their presence in the large gallery hardly goes unnoticed. From Third Street, pedestrians can see Mr. Close's 5-foot-tall, pixilated face glaring through the large gallery windows, while the artist's golden "Lucky Day" desk welcomes patrons into the gallery with mystery and glamour.

Mr. Close has been wowing the art world with his large-scale photorealistic paintings since the 1970s. After a spinal artery collapse in 1988 left him a quadriplegic, Mr. Close re-invented his portrait technique and style. He taught himself to paint with the paintbrush between his teeth. His portraits transformed from lifelike images to wonderfully captivating pixelations of photographs. He paints in circles and scribbles, which, up close, look like abstracts. From far away, though, the portraits become tromp-l'oeil masterpieces. Wexler's large space allows for guests to view the portraits intimately, both up close and from a distance. Each view offers a different insight into the artist and the subject.

Mr. Castle has been called the father of the art furniture movement. His designs have classically organic movement to them, but are far from traditional. Since the 1960s, he has consistently advocated the idea that furniture design goes far beyond the need for storage and seating; it should also provide stimulating surroundings. The Wexler Gallery is showing some of Mr. Castle's most recent works, made primarily from polychromed fiberglass. With an almost atomic feel, the chairs and tables are aesthetically dazzling. Their futuristic and surreal qualities only support the notion that function has never had priority in Mr. Castle's designs.

The Wexler regularly carries the Wendell Castle Collection of wood furnishings, which are more conventional than those pieces currently being exhibited. Still, they are strikingly unique and beautifully crafted.

In addition to the current exhibit, the Wexler Gallery's lofty space is adorned with jewelry, furniture, paintings and sculptures from a dozen other artists and artisans, all using different media. The gallery offers a notable amount of decorative glass works. These pieces flow through the large second floor like water, their vibrant, fluid forms connecting the array of paintings and furnishings surrounding them.

The Chuck Close/Wendell Castle exhibition opened on Friday night to a meager crowd, proving that not even renowned artists can lure Philadelphians out into the cold January nights. The exhibition runs through Feb. 28, and will be followed by a showing of works from Australian glass artist Tim Edwards.

The Wexler Gallery is located at 201 N. 3rd Street. Mallory Politz can be reached at m.politz@gmail.com
©The Evening Bulletin 2008