Thursday, January 28, 2010

John Pomara's Solo Show at Barry Whistler Gallery


John Pomara's current solo exhibition at Barry Whistler gallery was quite the spectacle.
This professor of art at UT Dallas' show is titled Arrival and Departure; in the show his work features oil enamel on aluminum and digital prints that are mounted on aluminum as well as some smaller prints that are framed. The exhibition lasts through February 27, 2010. This new body of work is very different from his previous show at Barry Whistler's Gallery in 2007.
That show titled Digital Dating in 2007, was an interesting body of work; for me it was more of a series that was dealing with urbanism and urban development. In other words, it was more about taking a risk by trying something new and different than in his previous work.

When I first came across John's work was in 2003/2004 at the Dallas Museum of Art's 100 year show. He had his painting placed adjacent to Jasper Johns' painting titled Device. I began following his work ever since. Within a couple of years he was awarded the Texas Legend award, and had a retrospective of his work of how his work has progressed over the years, at the Dallas Contemporary Gallery. In my opinion it is his work that focuses on the first inspired print screw ups that has made his art stand out from others of his generation of painters.

John's recent paintings are really quite subtle. The casual observer could easily miss their minimal beauty and nuance. However, in his digital prints they do just the opposite. In some ways or another the two different bodies of work are like North and South magnets. It is therefore a great Arrival and Departure for the artist and those that are supportive of his new direction.

I feel fortunate to know the artist and am happy to be his neighbor.

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