Oakland’s Manna Gallery showing Piedmont artist Corvin’s work
By Lou Fancher
The paint loops and swoops as if applied by the wind instead of a brush in the abstract artwork of Valerie Corvin. In other works, the strokes swirl and slash or drag with uneven thickness in jagged black and deep blue gestures as if driven by a fierce thunderstorm. Occasionally, the colors appear in muted clusters of red, pink, orange, green, off-white and yellow, like a flower garden viewed through a foggy curtain, or a window glass still dripping and moist with humidity. In some of the large and small works created on canvas, board or paper, Corvin’s hand is set free and addresses the surface with the abandon of a child’s doodles — the frolicking lines and whimsical words or shapes like cups, flower petals or grids are inscribed in outlines and keenly placed, revealing Corbin’s signature, sophisticated line work and composition. Behind the boisterous colors and energized brushstrokes are frequently pools of smoldering black or deep blue density that suggest a just-passed or pending storm or a darker mood. A solo show running through Sept. 16 at Oakland’s Manna Gallery, “Play of the Hand,” presents 17 of Corvin’s mixed-media works created in the last 15 months. A range of sizes, from 12-by-12-inch to 48-by-48-inch, showcase Corvin’s versatility in small- and large-scale formats. Corvin has a master of arts degree in museum administration and is one of the founders of the Piedmont Center for the Arts. She grew up with her family in New Jersey, where her father was a renowned fine jewelry designer and her mother a painter and sculptor. She recalls that during her childhood, she and her parents frequently took the subway into New York City to visit its Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although she took art history courses in high school and college and established a career as an arts administrator, educator and curator, Corvin didn’t turn her own hands to art-making until her 40s. While raising three children and working as a museum educator for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, she began to investigate materials, style and her personal voice. Eventually focusing on expressive, mixed-media work centered in abstraction rather than realism, Corvin has said previously that abstraction provides freedom (an apple need not strictly resemble an apple, for example) but no less of a demand on the artist. Digging deep for inner vision and conveying those imagined, organic spaces through color, line and texture requires rigorous practice, try-and-try-again pursuit and is no small feat when realized, she says. “In the last few years I have come more in touch with my intuition and rely on it more in the painting process,” Corvin says about her Manna Gallery exhibit. “This freedom is my main focus.” She says the exhibit came about after an artist friend had recommended her to the gallery and representatives from Manna visited her studio. “I chose the title of the show, ‘Play Of Hand,’ because this body of work demonstrates bolder marks, playful shapes and a range of color,” Corvin says of the show’s title and her works selected for it. “I also play the game of bridge and it’s a nod to the play of the hand of the game.” Among the works are four small paintings on paper, drawn from one of two new series and titled “Fluidity.” The soft olive green, mustard, pink, gray and blue shapes dance and overlap — always with underlying black paint strokes and etched lines adding heft and unexpected texture. In larger, mixed-media works on panel or canvas, the imagery appears to draw more directly from nature, as in “Yoga Tree Branches” and “Cloudy Morning.” Both works demonstrate Corvin’s astute color balance and use of blue tones. The former leaves the impression of holding a bouquet of hydrangea close to the eyes; the latter a view of a sky in which clouds form themselves, dissipate and reshape or are swept away. Other new works such as “On the Verge” and “Oh, What A Feeling” feature vigorous smears, cartwheeling lines and deep burnt reds or hazy pinks that “bloom” like flowers and are immersed in dense tangles of green, grey and black or float effortlessly in fields of white paint. Corvin says that during the COVID-19 pandemic her commitment to making art never wavered. “Those years of working every day in my home-based studio in Piedmont allowed me to explore and enhance my skills and vision — my oeuvre.” The opening reception Aug. 4 had 150 people mingling in Manna’s open, minimalist space. The gallery’s exhibition design affords closeup viewing of Corvin’s brushwork but also plenty of room to back away, especially from the larger works, and to appreciate the paintings for their overall color palette and composition. “I was delighted at the opening reception that the people who came through the show had such great reactions and stopped to chat with me,” Corvin says. “So many of them saw the theme of nature in my work. They got it. Other people commented on the play of the hand aspect and appreciated the original artwork — a refreshing change (for them) from digital art.” Corvin plans to participate Oct. 1 in the Piedmont Art Walk. In the meantime, she says she will continue to explore her inner voice through workshops she takes with other professional artists and educators, spending time and seeking inspiration in the outdoors — and always, by “playing” her hand at the easel. |