In a sampling of works selected for “Balancing Act,” veteran painter Jack Reilly exhibits skills comparable to those employed by master magicians and lauded architects. Reilly reappraises the line between painting and sculpture through abstract, illusionistic and representational works completed since the late 1990’s. Examining “Circles of Time” and “Duality of Romance” from every angle, they mesmerize by virtue of the artist’s ability to suggest three-dimensionality on flat, individually designed, geometrically shaped canvases. Stepping back deepens the effect of the spacial illusions. Examining the work up close intensifies the beauty and strength of the artist’s luminous, sensual color palette, heightened by thick brushstrokes, metallic pigments and a variety of collage elements. Two of his more recent works, “Makena Cove Icon” and “Anacapa Impressions,” attest to the breadth of Reilly’s interests and points of reference. Working from an accumulation of original sketches and photographs taken on site, Reilly creates his own depiction of an idealized time and place.
