Art Map Burlington Article

ON THE COVER

Wendy James

A young man on the street plays the accordion. His right arm extends out; his fingers pedal the keys; his mouth holds intent and focus. The painting presents a cropped portion of the scene: nothing above the man’s eyes, only a bit of the accordion’s bellows, neither his waist nor his legs. He is wedged in the right of the painting and behind him we see the few yards of street he has walked down, and the doorway he just passed. The composition is photographic, but the image itself is undeniably painterly. The palette is a blend of dark mauves and rosy browns, goldenrod highlights that give it a glowing quality, and greens that range from olive to sea to lime spread across the painting like a mossy patina. Accordion Player is a triumph--a brilliant dissertation on light, color, composition, and the application of paint.

I must confess, I was, at first, dismissive of Wendy James, this high school art teacher cum painter. I thought her work was too simple, hobbyist, generic--work of a middle-aged dilettante. (It’s true that I often think the worst of things I don’t like or don’t understand.) I was rash, too quick to judge, and an idiot. The root of my error, I have come to understand, is what makes her paintings so remarkable.

James paints with a relaxed brush style that is both gestural and expressive...it is the style the New Realist painters took from Abstract Expressionism in the 1960s and a common use of brush in Vermont painting today. Her palette is the muted electric colors, which are also common in Vermont paintings. The harsh flourescents are counterbalanced by drudgy earthy tones. But this is where the comparisons end and James’ importance as a painter comes through.

Compositionally, James’ paintings work like photographs, which is not surprising since she has tought photography at Essex High School since the Eighties and has a large body of work in that medium as well. Her paintings show an eye for contrast and a perspective more akin to the lens than the eye. Photographers know that when they shoot an image, they are only taking a piece of the scene. Painters tend to believe that they have the power to put the entire world on a canvas. James crops what she paints. What you get as the viewer is a limited field of view and the dramatic quality of the work comes from what you can’t see as much as from what you can. As such, James is blending the painterly qualities of New Realism with the perspective of Photorealism.

The result is a subversive body of work. Wendy James invites us in with details that are familiar, even common. Once we’re in, she paints like a riot grrrl, an anarchist, she rages against the machine like a punk rocker. She shakes us up. You realize the bowl that holds the morning cereal is glass and the Cheerios floating next to the hand are actually on the table; that the genteel candy-cane striped awning is the back of the restaurant and in the shadows are dumpsters, or that the streets of Winooski are flooding and causing havoc. You realize you’ve gotten a different view of the world than you thought you would get. And that, is the mark of a great painter.

		MAY 2008 V.3-N.5
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Cheereos 12”x18” oil on canvas 2008 32. The Pine Street Deli 316 Flynn Avenue (corner of Pine Street and Flynn Avenue) (802) 862-9614		ON THE COVER Wendy James A young man on the street plays the accordion. His right arm extends out; his fingers pedal the keys; his mouth holds intent and focus. The painting presents a cropped portion of the scene: nothing above the man’s eyes, only a bit of the accordion’s bellows, neither his waist nor his legs. He is wedged in the right of the painting and behind him we see the few yards of street he has walked down, and the doorway he just passed. The composition is photographic, but the image itself is undeniably painterly. The palette is a blend of dark mauves and rosy browns, goldenrod highlights that give it a glowing quality, and greens that range from olive to sea to lime spread across the painting like a mossy patina. Accordion Player is a triumph--a brilliant dissertation on light, color, composition, and the application of paint. I must confess, I was, at first, dismissive of Wendy James, this high school art teacher cum painter. I thought her work was too simple, hobbyist, generic--work of a middle-aged dilettante. (It’s true that I often think the worst of things I don’t like or don’t understand.) I was rash, too quick to judge, and an idiot. The root of my error, I have come to understand, is what makes her paintings so remarkable. James paints with a relaxed brush style that is both gestural and expressive...it is the style the New Realist painters took from Abstract Expressionism in the 1960s and a common use of brush in Vermont painting today. Her palette is the muted electric colors, which are also common in Vermont paintings. The harsh flourescents are counterbalanced by drudgy earthy tones. But this is where the comparisons end and James’ importance as a painter comes through. Compositionally, James’ paintings work like photographs, which is not surprising since she has tought photography at Essex High School since the Eighties and has a large body of work in that medium as well. Her paintings show an eye for contrast and a perspective more akin to the lens than the eye. Photographers know that when they shoot an image, they are only taking a piece of the scene. Painters tend to believe that they have the power to put the entire world on a canvas. James crops what she paints. What you get as the viewer is a limited field of view and the dramatic quality of the work comes from what you can’t see as much as from what you can. As such, James is blending the painterly qualities of New Realism with the perspective of Photorealism. The result is a subversive body of work. Wendy James invites us in with details that are familiar, even common. Once we’re in, she paints like a riot grrrl, an anarchist, she rages against the machine like a punk rocker. She shakes us up. You realize the bowl that holds the morning cereal is glass and the Cheerios floating next to the hand are actually on the table; that the genteel candy-cane striped awning is the back of the restaurant and in the shadows are dumpsters, or that the streets of Winooski are flooding and causing havoc. You realize you’ve gotten a different view of the world than you thought you would get. And that, is the mark of a great painter.

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