George Schmidt’s solo exhibition Recent Paintings and Drawings at PAC Gallery (2540 Woodburn Ave., East Walnut Hills) closes this Friday with a reception from 5-8 p.m. In many of the works, porches, patios and other buildings are suggested with casual elegance in sunny, inviting hues. Backgrounds stretch off into hazy views of bays and coastlines, with occasional swimsuit clad figures strolling by. Schmidt’s exposure of the under drawings of his works that resemble architectural maps are the first clue that his approach to these scenes is more analytical and detached than one might expect.
Nearby walls are hung salon-style with framed paintings and collages that distill construction, landscape and buildings into geometric abstractions and hand drawn patterns. Central in the gallery is an interactive sculpture called “Meeting House” that mimics the spindly scaffolds within his paintings to elevate a long, sky blue lodge that two viewers can poke their heads into to face each other in an awkwardly public/private encounter. Schmidt’s palette is delicious and his handling of marks that are layered into pictures seems refreshingly effortless. The show as a whole could be taken like a vacation in the middle of winter.
Go here for directions and gallery information.