Continuing through February 21, 2014
Lovers of geometric abstraction and minimalism, that is of understated form as a carrier of complex emotional and intellectual freight, should not miss the abstract wall pieces of Freddy Chandra, who brings 1960s abstraction and hard-edged (i.e., non-metaphoric) up to date in both materials and affect. The nine pieces in "Tuning In" are four-bar arrays of colored acrylic and resin in different lengths and dimensions, rectangular or square in section (and roughly analogous to 1x1 and 2x3 wood stock), and oriented both horizontally and vertically.
Variations in the blue, purple and green pigmentation, the transparency of the material, and its surface finish keep this restrictive format from becoming formulaic. Works like “Plumb,” "Sonorous,” "Copse,” “Riverine” and ”Trill” exude a hushed lyricism far from the brash, matter-of-factness of Frank Stella or Dan Flavin; a hint of Rothko’s breathing color is also discernible. The vibrating staggered-bar format suggests scientific measurement (graphs, graphic equalizers, seismographs and oscilloscopes) and his encapsulated colors evoke charged gases in fluorescing discharge tubes. But meditative beauty is the dominant chord that Chandra strikes in these emotionally resonant cast-resin painting-sculptures.
