Also in this week’s Weekly, my editor’s choice mini-review of Jen Corace’s show at Art Star. Here’s the link and below is the copy with some images.
Jen Corace, Caught Up
Jen Corace‘s “Swept out to Sea” at Art Star is a haiku of an exhibit. The 26 small and elegant watercolor paintings sprawl across the walls in poetic cadences and tell of a watery world both dark and cool, where the flipside of a nice day at the beach is flooding, shipwreck and death. Corace, a South Jersey native who lives in Providence, R.I., is a freelance illustrator whose paintings are pristine and narrative. Her figures remind me of some Japanese children’s books where eyes are wide-set and faces emotion-free.
Jen Corace, Marathon, ink, watercolor on paper
The artist’s brown, molasses-like sea is the most wonderful part of the series. A dramatic character all its own, the sea is a foil for the humans who stand, play, swim and get devoured by its waves. Corace paints this beautiful, odd sea like a hybrid Hershey’s Hokusai wave—stylized, delicious and unreal. While humans appear in every painting, it’s the crazy sea that steals the scene. The people are unknowable, but you can love and fear that beautiful body of water even though you can’t understand it. Kudos to Art Star, a class-act boutique with affordable art. Note to local artists: Artstar is looking for local talent.
Jen Corace: “Swept out to Sea”
Through May 14. Art Star, 1030 N. Second St., unit 301. 215.238.1557.
