OnTheCusp.org

First Friday - Mark Pack & Max Stolkin at ArtBox

I love going to the ArtBox Gallery. The open space and lighting are so right for all kinds of art. There always seems to be a lot of people having fun during opening nights, which must mean we all agree this is usually a must-see spot on the First Friday itinerary.

It didn’t take long after walking up the entry steps to see that “Deliberation” was going to be an interesting show. The paintings by Mark Pack and sculptures by Max Stolkin really work together. A feeling of being amidst artifacts was pervasive.

Pack’s technique of building extremely thick layers of acrylic on wood and then carving into them give an impression of discovery. Like an archeological dig, his paintings have an interesting surface and color palette, but the excavations expose hidden treasures. For the young Pack, abstract impressionism is art history. It’s to his credit that he has invested creative energy to developing this style to make it his own by seeing real objects like rocks and butterfly wings as his inspiration.

Max Stolkin’s sculptures strip away the flesh and expose the raw emotional inner self. It’s almost painful to see that the skin has been burned or torn off to get to that level where the body is revealed to not be the whole vessel containing our souls. Within that physical shell is the source of our expressions.

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