Tipping the hat to 27 years of art exhibits

By DAWN DIEHLStaff Writer

30 minus 3: Hats Off! Studio Z

Through Dec. 28

1415 E. Carson St.

(412)…

30 minus 3: Hats Off! Studio Z

Through Dec. 28

1415 E. Carson St.

(412) 381-6400

Studio Z Gallery on the South Side celebrates its 27th anniversary by presenting “30 Minus 3: Hats Off!,” an exhibition of the works of 27 artists from the Pittsburgh area, which provide a distinctive sampling of media, textures, styles and approaches to the creation of art.

Paintings with pigment applied with a knife are intriguing for their deep contoured textures and for the way each stroke contains distinct, unblended bands of color that supply a sense of detail to the image – Joyce Werwie Perry’s impressionistic paintings are subtly colored and captivating.

Ruth Richardson’s watercolor paintings catch the eye with vibrant and complex layers of translucent color, and Pat Silva is exhibiting several traditional oil landscapes.

Three-dimensional sculpture by Gene Fenton tends to the fantastic, primitive and grotesque. Some of these pieces’ purple monochromatic scheme adds to their alien allure.

Adrienne Heinrich provided some two-dimensional abstract compositions and some amber-colored cast rubber sculptures, which were not part of her Artist of the Year exhibit at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts a couple months ago.

Paul Dadowski has produced a number of figure illustrations in ink and colored pencil. The figures are shown in leisurely poses, and the ink is applied in broken lines and dots, instilling the works with mood of comfortable casualness.

Using what appears to be commercially printed photographs as a source material, Dorothy Forman tears and trims them until only a texture remains recognizable, then assembles the pieces into a striking new image.

Also exhibited are works by Kenneth Beer, Frank Bolock, James Church, Martha Fairchild, Linda Fruhwald, Fran Gialamas, Marian Graper, Lily Hirsch Brody, Lori Hornell, Lillian Kefalos, Jennifer Marcin, Karl Mullen, David Obidzinski, Charles Patterson, Terri Perpich, Sunny Pickering, Alyce Ritti, Lucienne Wald, David Watts, and studio owner Kathleen Zimbicki.

“30 Minus 3: Hats Off!” continues through Dec. 28. Studio Z Gallery, 1415 East Carson Street, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.