Trading Passions

A painter sculpts and a sculptor paints -- and one fares better than the other

Comments (0) By Kelly Klaasmeyer Thursday, Jan 27 2005

...continued from page 1

Courtesy of New Gallery

John Hathorn has stocked his Raft with cliché upon cliché.

Details

Through February 5

New Gallery, 2627 Colquitt, 713-520-7053.

More About

With its delicate layering, painting like this is a one-shot deal. You can't go back -- you'd just have to start over -- and consequently, some of the works come off better than others. In Lakes (Gray) 1 (2004), the chalky lines over a dull gray ground create a calm intricacy. In the diptych of Lakes (Large/White) 1 and 2 (2004), the second works better; something about the way the lines come together in the first seems a little awkward. Meanwhile, White Border 2 (2004) has lost its way and become too opaquely layered to be interesting.

Fulton has some satisfying and provocative things going on in his paintings, but their modest scale is a problem -- the works feel constrained. No, bigger doesn't necessarily equal better, but expanding these paintings to fill the viewer's field of vision could make them much more powerful. There's a sense that the lines could continue on forever, but the sofa-sizing of the canvases brings them up short. While Hathorn's sense of grandeur is overdeveloped, Fulton's needs to be expanded.