NEW YORK -- The large, bold formats of the works of art currently on display at The Lobby Gallery offer stiff competition to the otherwise overwhelming surrounding space in which they are presently found. The dramatic cathedral-like lobby of 31 W. 52nd St. in New York City is the temporary home to "Allegories," a selection of recent paintings by New Jersey artist Christina Saj.
In contrast to Ms. Saj's solo exhibition held last year in Princeton, these works are much larger and prove that she is equally comfortable creating works in a large format as she is working on a more intimate scale. The works exhibited arrest attention through their prominent display of color and draw one in to take a closer look at the more subtle passages hidden in the details. Although the work can easily stand alone on it's merits of ambitious palette and strong sense of composition, there is certainly more than meets the eye in this intriguing group of paintings.
The exhibition consists of 11 works of art that span a broad range of emotions and subject matter. Chronologically, the earliest of the works created in this exhibition are "Jonah in the Belly of the Beast" and "Saints and Sinners." These paintings are also first that you encounter as you enter the gallery from 52nd street.
"Jonah in the Belly of the Beast" is Ms. Saj's interpretation of the parable of the prophet Jonah. Because the subject is familiar to many of us and is of a religious nature, it offers a good place to being pursuit of a more universal spiritual message, working within the parameters of the Judeo-Christian belief system. In the spirit of Vassily Kandinksy and his ideology concerning the necessity of spiritual content in art, Ms. Saj appears to be offering her interpretation of the essence of the human spirit.
"Saints and Sinners" seems to be revealing the "bare bones" of humanity by exposing what is left behind on earth when the spirit is separated form the body, but the title allows for a great deal of latitude in interpretation. In some works Ms. Saj volunteers clues and understanding the underlying program, while in others she allows the viewer's imagination to take a more active part in the formation of the ultimate message.
The painting in the exhibition that is least open to interpretation by the viewer is "Descent into Limbo." This painting adheres closely to the traditional icon format for this subject and thus carries the meaning with which it is historically associated. Liberties are taken only in the substitution of abstracted figures for the usual figures found in the composition and in Ms. Saj's typical manipulation of color. This painting also most patently discloses her training in iconography and Byzantine Art.
In contrast to the poignant and almost desperate atmosphere created by the skeletal hands reaching up from purgatory to touch the Savior is the playful mood produced by another work dealing with the underworld, "The Devil is in the Details." A potentially sinister subject matter is treated here somewhat lightly, depicting the devil as a minimal cartoon-like character peering through "the details" of the painting in the form of a colorful patterned screen of repetitive arcs. This is a work generated strictly in the imagination of the artist, with not specific textual or visual reference.
A work conceived in a similar manner is "Day and Night" although Ms. Saj has at least partially relied on recognizable symbols in the use of the crescent moon-head form the figure of night. In this whimsical personification of nature, Ms. Saj has not only given day and night palpable form, but has imbued the figures with quasi-human characteristics to which the viewer can easily relate. Still, the figures function on the level of folklore and could even be understood as the memory of a pagan past.
Evocation of the past is a theme also evident in "Eden," the largest work in the exhibition. This painting elicits nostalgia for all Christians" collective past, in which sin and suffering did not exist. In this work Ms. Saj has depicted a lush paradise that radiates color and invites the viewer to temporarily re-enter the pre-apple world from which he or she has long since been banished.
Whereas Ms. Saj has on the one hand reminded us of something we can only evoke in memory, she also offers retribution in the form of "Safe Harbor," a gentle-hued work painted in tones of green and gold that gives the viewer visual respite from the artist's characteristically vibrant palette. The title of the work does not reference any specific biblical or scriptural source and as such does not suggest overt association with any specific religion. The painting does, however, intimate the existence of a secure place, real or imaginary, where our human vulnerability will not necessarily cause our downfall.
"Martyr" which is to be considered the thematic flip side of "Eden," simultaneously confronts us with the condition and consequence of being human. The figure is anchored within a powerful cruciform composition and is executed in an audacious color scheme. We are forced to consider this figure seriously, for it represents generic sacrifice made on behalf of a transgressive mankind. This painting is the last we encounter and serves as a bold culmination to the exhibition in both visual and thematic terms.
In a complex process of layering paint, Christina Saj has achieved rich colorful surfaces of great decorative beauty, while simultaneously suggesting many strata of the collective consciousness of the human race. In this exhibition she invites the viewer to both recall and create anew myths and allegories that shape our understanding of the world and our part in it.
"Allegories" will be on display at the Lobby Gallery through March 3.
