May 2, 2005

Tucked into a low-slung, century-old brick building in an industrial neighborhood not far from Boston Medical Center is one of Boston’s best-kept secrets. Inching into its second decade under the shrewd stewardship of John Colan, Hallspace belongs to that rare echelon of art galleries where the quality of the work supersedes the bottom line. The current exhibit of South Africa-born, now Boston-based Sophia Ainslie underscores Hallspace’s place as an important showcase for provocative, meaningful art.

Ainslie’s compositional sense is astute; she applies color with spare precision. On the left side of the gigantic, visceral hodge-podge called Crawlers 3, mustard yellow runs through the shifting forms, but only down the middle of the mountainous debris. On the right side (the work almost qualifies as a diptych, which its two distinct masses joined by a pair of dark, thick chutes), a rich brown glazes a heart-shaped area in the upper reaches of the complementary heap. Yet for all the mysteriousness and unpredictability of her imagery, she achieves a balance beyond the mere application of color. The left half of Crawlers 3 is essentially vertical and pulls leftward, an uneven pyramid that appears to rise from a tapering, distant tall. The right half, denser and less given to contrast, is more horizontally shaped and tugs in the opposite direction. Turmoil, confusion, entanglement, the indecipherability of organic matter – all contribute to the artist’s vision. And through the monumental compactness of her images couldn’t be called playful (play requires air), the energy of her shapes also precludes somberness of foreboding.

 

Read more here: http://thephoenix.com/boston/arts/11201-follow-your-themes/