Charles Kalick – Paintings and Constructions, Nazanin Moghbeli – Works on paper, February 6 – March 14, 2015
Posted on: Thursday, February 5th, 2015
Charles Kalick | Rear Blue Window |Acrylic and wood on birch panel |13" x 12" | 2014
Charles Kalick
Paintings and Constructions
Nazanin Moghbeli | M | Ink on paper | 24" x 36" | 2014
Nazanin Moghbeli
Works on paper
February 6 – March 14, 2015
Artist Reception, February 7, 5 – 7 pm
First Fridays, February 6 & March 6, 6 – 8:30
LGTripp Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibition of recent works by Philadelphia-based artists Charles Kalick and Nazanin Moghbeli. This is Kalick’s second show with the gallery and Mogbeli’s first.
In his aptly named Paintings and Constructions series, Charles Kalick juxtaposes textures, depths, and colors to create dynamic spatial relationships. Architecture, industry, movement and color relationships are consistent themes in this series. Although two-dimensional, his large acrylic paintings utilize variations in pattern and hue to create the impression of looking down on a topographic grid. Sharply edged fields of flat, brightly saturated colors leap off or recede into the surface by force of their sheer vibrancy. Textured neutrals add visual complexity. In his constructions Kalick uses wood not merely as a surface but as a building material. While color and textural variations still create the illusion of depth, angled planes and stacked wood blocks form shadowed recesses and airy openings—each construction a monument ripe for exploration.
Born in Philadelphia, Kalick pursued a degree from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and graduated in 1972. He was awarded both the Lewis S. Ware and the William Emlen Cresson Memorial Traveling Scholarships. Kalick was also the recipient of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship. His works have been included in exhibitions throughout Pennsylvania and New York.
In the drawings that comprise her Works on Paper series, Nazanin Moghbeli uses Iranian calligraphic materials to create lyrically rich line drawings. Her practice moves from discipline to freedom. As a mode of sketching, Moghbeli meticulously masters the form of individual Farsi characters, until the characters themselves become figurative. In her drawings, studied muscle memory allows for gloriously expressive line work. Lines range from the mesmerizingly delicate and fading to bold confident swaths. No longer purely descriptive, her marks seem imbued with their own life. They mingle and dance on the surface creating rhythms and tempos. Moghbeli’s process is also informed by traditional Iranian music, drawing while listening to music. She subscribes to an ancient metaphor that “calligraphy is music for the eyes.” If calligraphy is music, her drawings are daring solo improvisations.
Nazanin Moghbeli grew up in Iran and spent her early years studying traditional Iranian art forms, such as calligraphy, painting, and illumination. In 1996 she earned a degree in painting from Swarthmore College. Her works have been included in exhibitions locally and are in collections throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East.