‘Light & Shadow’ At Fenn Gallery

WOODBURY — Fenn Gallery’s next exhibit, “Light & Shadow,” will feature limited edition mezzotint prints by Carol Wax and painted wood wall sculptures by Marlene Sloan. The show will run from December 13 through January 28. The public is invited to the artist reception on Saturday, December 16, from 4 to 6 pm.

Ms Wax is widely recognized as one of the most gifted and innovative artists working in the mezzotint manner today. Her prints are in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution, among others.

Mezzotint, derived from the Italian “mezzo” for half and “tinto” for tone, is a tonal engraving process that begins with a black background from which tones are deducted through burnishing. It’s akin to a method of drawing in which a white sheet of paper is blackened with charcoal, and the image is “drawn” with an eraser. Considered the most difficult and physically demanding of print processes, mezzotint was invented in 1642.

Ms Wax capitalizes on the dramatic lighting effects capable with mezzotint process for rendering mechanical objects from past – sewing machines, movie projectors, typewriters, electric fans and the like. She accentuates the way in which old machine parts imitated human forms: hinges for joints, levers for limbs, and fan blades shaped like ears. The mirroring of human or animal forms often endows Ms Wax’s subjects with primitive mask-like qualities that she exaggerated to infuse the inanimate with the anima. Often her mechanical subjects take on a humorous, cartoonish quality.

Also on display will be assemblages in wood by Stamford artist Ms Sloan, who collects wood fragments of all types and composes them in unusual and innovative ways. The previous contexts of the wood fragments are hidden by the fact that everything is painted in one color – either flat black, white, silver or gold. This takes away their individuality and stresses their new function as part of a larger whole, and allows the interplay of light and shadow to accentuate form and surface. The viewer can dwell on the transformed objects that have been reborn as art, or enjoy the over all texture and harmonious feel of the whole work.

Fenn Gallery of Contemporary Art is at 345 Main Street South (Route 6), and is open Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5 pm, or by appointment. For more information, visit FennGallery.com or call 203-263-3449.