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DCAC Shows Richard Siegman

January 30, 2011 

   

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Richard Siegman, Joanne Kent and the work
Richard Siegman has been making art in DC for 30 years and for much of that time, he has also been operating PASS, the Painting and Sculpture Studio, a little bijou of an art space entered from the alley between 16th and 17th Sts. NW near Dupont Circle. PASS is a local treasure, where Siegman gives the artists he admires an opportunity to exhibit outside of the commercial vortex.  Now two of them have returned the favor. Joanne Kent and Stuart Grenwell have curated a show of Siegman’s recent paintings at DCAC, another local treasure.
   
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Stuart Grenwell and the work
Image Since I have known his work, Siegman has been an expressionistic abstractionist. Whew, that is a mouthful. He paints in primary colors with broad energetic strokes, covering the whole canvas in. At their best, these pieces can vibrate. In an art world that prizes the next new thing, the commitment that Siegman displays to abstraction is a testament to the  value of following a direction in depth and with dedication over time.
     
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Joanne K
The work at DCAC represents an evolution in Siegman’s style. Here, he has created slick glossy surfaces in gorgeous aqua, red and orange that seem to push and compress the gestural sections. The effect is of containing energy and I found it quite effective. As always, Siegman’s work is about the physical object of the painting, rejecting representation. However, there is a richness to these pieces created by the tension of the surface that is new and feels like the artist has approached his vision with fresh eyes.
 
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