Betty Gold
Review
ArtScene, 01/16/2015
Kathy Zimmerer
Betty Gold
Review
ArtScene, 01/16/2015
Kathy Zimmerer
Betty Gold's incisive geometric sculptures in glowing primary colors are always deceptively simple yet rooted in complexity. She folds over her forms and they interact with space in intriguing ways. Best known for her sculpture, she also has always painted and her jewel-like stylized acrylics are also included in the exhibit. The sculptures and paintings here work well together, each one playing off the other in terms of spatial relationships and brilliant color. For example, the sculpture “Tiron" occupies different spatial layers as the three folded forms, respectively yellow, blue and red, are interconnected in space yet stay apart. This is similar to what happens on the surface of her painting "Felix II," where the same bold colors are used. Gold uses black lines to delineate the geometry of the painting, whereas in the sculpture she uses the negative space between each piece to accentuate the staggered spatial relationship.
Geometry is inherent to both her painting and sculpture, as she writes, “… everything I have done for the major part of my career has been based on a geometric concept. It never becomes tiresome and I continue to find new ways in which to express its truth and universality." Curves play against lines in the masterful "MA-1," whose vivid orange color delineates the spatial complexity of her form. Although not large in scale, this sculpture possesses a monumentality that would make it a perfect candidate for a larger public version. Her forms are strong enough to hold their own no matter what the scale. Bold yellow forms intersect in "Mallorca II," where curves meet to create a dynamic interplay of line and space, emphasizing the whimsical nature of the primary hue and geometry.
"Majestad VII" represents a departure, as she works with burnished steel instead of powder coating it in her usual bright colors. This work resembles a piece of paper folded over and frozen in time. Although pared down, it is quite beautiful in the way it quietly encompasses space. The silver/grey surface shimmers in a more subtle way than her more clearly defined, color-saturated works.
Most noteworthy among these sculptures is "Majestad V," where glowing crimson planes fold over and lean on each other. Negative space again plays an important part as well as lines that intersect and change in this seminal piece. The intense color makes the forms jump out at the viewer even as the sculpture enfolds space.
Her painting “Cava" is more complex in imagery given the linear channels that form, intersect and run through the surface, accentuated with circles, all in her trademark colors with the addition of light pink and a soft blue. The yellow and tangerine geometric abstract areas vibrate is response. Even her paintings have a dimensionality, as the circles seem to tumble out of the surface, one on top of another. The entire composition is finished off in black with a red edge.
There is an instinctive vitality that permeates both her paintings and sculpture that bursts forth in the brilliant colors and unique forms. By concentrating on geometric imagery, Gold manages to create an infinite variety of sculptural imagery that punctuates space with decisive authority and élan.