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Friday, January 25, 2023 |
Not so naive. Several years ago, Coalition Ingenu, a
Philadelphia organization that encourages art-making as a therapeutic activity
for homeless and mentally ill people, exhibited work by its clients at the Walt
Whitman Cultural Center in Camden.
Self-taught art of this kind is
typically highly expressionistic and boldly colorful. So it is at the Esther
Klein Gallery at University City Science Center, where Coalition Ingenu has
staged another show of six artists.
As he did in Camden,
Philadelphian Walter Oates Jr. confounds the stereotype for self-taught art in
such a striking way that he appears miscast as a naif.
The other work in this show is,
in different ways, energetic, crude and colorful, almost like children's art.
Oates' collage images are classically serene, disciplined and intellectual.
Oates combines images and texts
gleaned from dictionaries and other reference books. He favors marine images
such as fish, scallops and sea horses, juxtaposed against text passages and
large numerals.
His cultural reach is extensive,
taking in European and Asian sources, mythology and heraldry. His compositions
are sophisticated and visually appealing, especially when shown in the company
of more effusive work.
Yet Oates is no easier to read
this time around than he was in Camden. His runic clusters remain beautiful but
enigmatic. Even after two encounters, their symbolic significance eludes me.
Perhaps that's the secret of their allure.
By
Edward J. Sozanski
INQUIRER
ART CRITIC
Esther
Klein Gallery, 3600 Market St. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Through
March 1. 215-387-2262 or www.kleinartgallery.org.
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2002/01/25/weekend/ARTSY25.htm