100
1
Pier and Post Path,
oil on linen, 30 x 30"
2
City Beach, oil
on canvas, 30 x 40"
3
Manchester Beach Walk,
oil on panel, 12 x 12"
4
Dune Drift, oil
on panel, 42 x 42"1SANDY OSTRAUCrosscurrents
S
andy Ostrau says, “Though I strive to
eliminate details, I also like the idea of
connecting things—people to people and
people with landscapes. In this body of work
there are references to man-made structures
likes piers, wharfs and other things you find
on the beach. They help underline how we
are part of the landscape, immersed or
embedded into the natural world.”
Crosscurrents, her first solo exhibition at
Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco,
will open November 4 and continue
through November 27.
Ostrau was brought up in the Bay Area
of California. The moist atmosphere of
the Pacific Coast and the innovations of
the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the
mid-20th century have inspired her. She
admires the way Richard Diebenkorn, for
instance, brought some of his techniquesof applying paint as well as his sense
of value and design into his figurative
work from his experience of abstract
expressionism.
Diebenkorn wrote, “Abstract means
literally to draw from or separate. In
this sense every artist is abstract for he
must create his own work from his visual
impressions. A realistic or non-objective
approach makes no difference. The result
is what counts.”
The result in Ostrau’s paintings is non-
specific scenes with ambiguous figures that
are both two-dimensional and imply depth.
Her application of layers of paint and
control of color and value not only gives
the surface of her paintings a physical
depth, but imply an alluring spatial depth,
inviting viewers to step into the scene to
join the narrative or to create their own.She recalls Hans Hofmann’s theory of
“push and pull” in which color, shape and
light imply depth rather than one-point
perspective.
“I love painting outside,” she explains.
“Early on I did abstract paintings and
learned how to simplify. Outdoors, there is
so much information you have to learn to
distill it. You have to choose. What are you
trying to say? What is hitting you?”
Her experience of the landscape and of
the effects of light on color translate into
paintings that are inviting to contemplate
as physical objects of paint on canvas or
panel, as well as portals for stepping into
and rejoining the landscape.Dolby Chadwick Gallery
210 Post Street, Suite 205 • San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 956-3560 • http://www.dolbychadwickgallery.comUPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / DOLBY CHADWICK GALLERY
11 /4-11/ 27 San Francisco, CA