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Show 12K I hr vill Lake I rihunr, kundav, Januarv Tlit art sctnt PM, 14, Bonnie, Denis Phillips bring optimism, harmony lo work s a sure cure fur the blues and grays of a dreary winter season wedged on try the painterly warmth smooth harmony and v irile contrasts in the main gallerv of Hark City s Kimball Gallery through Jan 29 Raintings by Bonnie and Denis Phillips, distinguished Utah artists, express a season of travel and studio work following a summer field trip in Idaho and the Northwest This is painterly expression that esihews moody attitudes for more positive and stimulating experience - moods, feelings and ideas by two crepainters who enjoy their work ations which stimulate gallery-goer- s in local, regional and national exhibi- - Making n work lends the painting dead-cente- I Votf Photo by Paul ur e Ft Ouyt ton tors. Works by two painters currently are showing at Kimball Art Center, Park City. Bonnie and Denis Phillips are Salt Lake City artists and gallery proprie- well-know- n V ilium' ok .eii' ( rtterion hat started out in May as a polite debate eoneernmg a proposed fanci-lu- l addition to the stark Whitney Museum has erupted into a fierce battle involving Postmodernist and Modernist architects, artists, preservationists, critics and just about anyone who now and then dines on the design stew that seems to be constantly simmering in this city The battle is expected to become even more heated in the weeks ahead as the W hitney seeks a host of needed approvals for its $37 5 million plan from the citys landmarks and planning commissions and the Board of Kstimate. Rockets packed with artistic rationalizations are being readied Those protesting the polychromatic pastiche addition designed hy Princeton architect Michael Graves declare with passion that it is a defacement of the landmark Modernist museum, designed by Marcel Breuer and built just 21) years ago The protests also have prompted criticism of the Whitney's motivations and operaW tions Among those protesting the design of the addition is architect I M Pei, who recently came under attack lor Ins Modernist design of an addition to the Louvre in Paris That Pei and such other generally conservative architectural icons as Edward Barnes would publicly question another architect's design is quite unusual and is considered an indication of the emotion the proposal has generated Also in opposition are playwright Arthur Miller, former Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas Roving, artists Robert Motherwell and Saul Steinberg, sculptor Isamu Noguchi and critics Michael Sorkin of tradition-encruste- c Hilton Kramei of and Garter Wiseman and Kay Larson of York magazine. "Any body who is concerned with architectural landmarks is being asked to stand up and be counted on this one," comments architect Murray Levi of the Ad Hoc Committee to Save the Whitney Rallying to the defense of Graves and the design have been, among oth- the ,eir ers, renowned architects Philip Johnson and Ulrich Franen. architectural historian Vincent Scully and to various degrees, various critics in eluding House iV Gordon's Martin Filler, the .Voir York Times' Paul Goldberger and the .Voir Yorker's Brendan Gill Gill also happens to be a member of the W'hitney board At issue is the fate of the current Whitney, located at Madison Avenue and 75th Street on Manhattan's fashionable Upper East Side Designed by Modernist master Breuer, it is a brooding Brutalist-style- d building distinguished by a dark gray granite mass hovering over a bridge leading to the entrance. It is considered an architectural monument and for many, the museum's most noteworthy vvork of ai t The addition as designed by Graves would nearly triple the sue of the museum by matching Breuers mass with a pink granite structure to the south tying the two together with a and topping the cy lindi teal "hinge" entire concoction with another five high stories of distinctive architectural layering Included would be a theater, a library, a study center and offices, as well as new exhibition space The Postmodern design of the addition is distinguished by a blend of fanciful ornamental historical references. including palazzo.s, pergolas and various classical elements The seemingly arbitrary mix is similar to what Graves incorporated in his de five-stor- y 250-se- signs and de orations ot office buildings in Portland Ore and Louisville, Ky and for which he has garnered considerable notoriety, and commis, , sions Graves has described Ins addition as an architectural composition, integrating the Breuer building into a larger, more reflective urban scheme We have attempted to use to our advantage the apparent of modernity versus a figurative architecture," more1 We believe our Graves explains work reflects a particularly American spirit, one which combines architecture derived from traditional sources with the modern architecture of the recent past " Almost immediately after being unveiled, the plans provoked protests. including a particularly sharp denunciation by Abraham Geller on the occasion of his acceptance of the 1985 Medal of Honor from the New York chapter of the American Institute ot Architects Geller charged that Graves' Postmodern design was an ir 'R to Breuer's Modernist philosophy, adding that it "crushed" and "smothered the existing landmark There also were some sharp at-lks by critics, particularly by Kramer (a "preposterous" and "lugubrious conception"), Sorkin ("a petulant. Oedipal piece of work, an attack on a Modernist father by an upstart, intolerant child blind or callow perhaps, but murderous") and Roving, as of Connoisseur Many Angles ' Museum plan causes row By Sam Hall Kaplan Los Angelos Times Writer SKW YUHK A style war is raging in the art and architectural gains v ons (a som- nolent, squat, ponderous structure dipped in deja vu") And there were some noble defenses, from Goldberger ("The solution both daring and sensitive . is both powerful and subtle"). Filler will add much to the ("dignified cultural richness of a city that has always seemed oddly short of architectural masterpieces ') and Johnson (' Michael's been very sensitive to his predecessor"). . Utah artist Bonnie Phillips looks at art from many angles," says an with her husobserver "As band Denis Phillips, of the Phillips Gallery, one of the major Salt Lake galleries for local contemporary art, she is in touch with the pulse of art in this area "For the last few years of her long painting career, Bonnie has explored the lay ered. shifting subtleties of 'colored water floating on and sinking into expanses of white satin. She was attracted to this fabric because of its dual, light reflecting light absorbing nature which changes, depending on how it catches light rays and whether a person sees it in daylight or artificial light. Her recent works are joy ful and freewheeling. Webs and patterns of color dance across satin fields with bubairy rhythms, like bles or flickering light projections." Denis Phillips finds inspiration in landscapes, painted at times from nature. His canvases originating from such experience can also become colorful resolutions of line and form movements which reveal the innate strengths or subtlety of a natural phenomenon. These exhilarating studies are statements with feelings and emotions that go far beyond mere representation. Bonnie Gile manifested an early interest in art and was encouraged by her creative mother. Her aunt, who won recognition for her painting in the watercolor medium, studied with Millard Sheets at Scripps College Dual Studies Enrolled at the University of Utah. Bonnie planned to pursue studies for a dual art and political scimajor ence. Discouraged from this plan, she devoted her full energies to securing a degree in art. With a natural inclination toward wind-blow- n well-ordere- d exuteineni Bonnie starts ea h canvas in a simple w ay using w ule brushes and a sinWithout a preconceived gle color idea ol what I want I find it interestcaning to begin a dialogue with the with vas, dealing negative spaces ul. timately. have spent as much as an entire day w ith a canvas, and finding it a struggle, do something else " coming back to it Learns From Realism She confesses that she is no diehard painter of natural subject mat" painter of ter, no winter landscapes She has learned to look at natural subject matter in an abstract way and learns from realistic studies, relationships that she hasn t yet contrived Denis enjoys the confrontation in direct landwith the A considerable numscape painting ber of his studies bear a close relationship with realistic objects, but ev en here the design gams from a satisfactory disposition of familiar images 1 watercolor painting she pursued her special interest, experimenting and probing creative possibilities in pastel and other mediums as well "I determined early that there were special properties in the resonant, transparent quality of watei color that challenged for its expressive ranges and rewarded serious efforts to get the most from it " Classmates at U. Denis Phillips, studying art at the University of Utah, vas a classmate He also had enjoyed an early and abiding interest in art which eventually inclined to the area of painting and drawing. "I knew when had enrolled in my first painting class with Doug Snowthat this would command " my major pursuit Bonnie and Denis were married following graduation, and they obtained studio space at 900 South and 900 East The commodious space was turned into an exhibition gallery, an enterprise which developed full scale with acquisition of a building at 444 E. 200 South, where for 18 years the public has relied on the high quality of contemporary art work presented Painting Afield Once each year for a period of five weeks during the latter part of the summer, exhibition and framing activities are put on hold while the Phillips and their two sons take painting gear afield, usually through Idaho, California or Montana. Both artists also have shown their work in local exhibitions and have won consistently with awards and acquisitions to public and private collections. Bonnie was featured in an exciting exhibition of her works at the Arbitrage Gallery in New York last year. New Directions "New directions develop naturally in my work," Bonnie says "Where my earlier painting was more evenly stated, more symmetrical. I now pursue a wider range of color, less symmetrical in direction. The work is freer with a greater use of relationships and soft, brushed-ibetween hard-edg- e effects. Practically all of my present work is on satin. I enjoy lots of depth next to flat areas and employ contradiction in color and movement 1 n e "freeze-the-knees- Studio Works Denis' works in this show were done in the studio many resulting from work done on location Some of the landscapes originated with sketches in Southern Utah "I in the studio without sketching, generally with a vague idea of form or color, I get going, sort of letting it happen I suppose it is a process ot dealing with a painting, rather than managing it Painting through the idea in this manner is interesting and allows the artist to maintain the excitement " start These canvases manage to avoid a dilemma with which artists contend when tackling a subject as grandiose as the monumental earth and sky forms in the Southwest. Rendered in complete realism of scale and color etc , they can be unprepossessing. Imagery and direction in Denis Southern Utah studies is freed up by a special sort of scale and color that releases the imaginative eye of the One is caught up in a beholder dramatic recital which the artist fully understands with fairly breathtaking consequences. The viewer thus becomes an essential partner Painting On Location Painting on location, however, is a very necessary part of the whole experience." Denis says. "I enjoy painting what I see, the landscape is a vital part of my expression. I don't mind going out among the bugs and the flies, or out in the cold " ' T . 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