LACAMBRA-SHUBERT PAINTINGS EXUDE BRAVURA AND THE GOOD LIFE

    01/18/04   Recent Works by Laura Lacambra-Shubert ,Monty Stabler Galleries. Through Jan. 31.

      A promising young artist, Laura Lacambra-Shubert, paints in a bravura style filled with tactile energy. Her ability to catch the effects of light and her concentration on pattern relationships is masterful. A willingness to sacrifice detail without loss of descriptive content recalls the brush work of Edouard Manet and the defining textural realism of Wayne Thiebaud.

     This exhibition is dominated by studies of figures, usually waiters or chefs. She eliminates individuality by painting torsos beginning at the neck and ending above the knees. This enables her to integrate the figure into her work as part of a pattern of colors, textures and shapes. The assertive boldness of her compositions is both sophisticated and matter of fact. A woman tying her apron, waiters carrying wine and glasses and still lifes of wine bottles are treated with functional anonymity that the viewer recognizes as true and accurate.

     Lacambra-Shubert's street views show building facades dappled with the pale light of morning or the strong contrasting light of late afternoon. Something as simple as two bottles of wine lying on a white cloth achieve the impact of two cannons lying in snow. Her fascination with the art of gracious living focuses on the idea of food and wine.

These are paintings that convey a sense of well being, of the good life and of deep and quiet pleasures. It is good to see works by a painter who loves and respects what paint can do in describing what is worth studying for pure pleasure.