Painting professor’s work showcased in new book

D-298 by Robert Straight

2:44 p.m., May 6, 2005--Robert Straight, UD professor of fine arts and visual communications, has never been afraid to take risks with his paintbrush, and this experimental approach paid off most recently with a prominent display of his work in the 2005 Mid-Atlantic edition of New American Paintings.

Begun while on vacation last summer, the three small-scale, gouache-on-paper paintings selected for inclusion in the prestigious periodical showcase Straight’s flair for pushing creative boundaries and breaking with tradition. And, while by no means haphazard, their serendipitous path of conception to success reflects something of Straight’s approach to new directions in his work.

“I started these last summer on vacation at the beach,” Straight said. “I originally thought they would be just a diversion while on vacation, but I became serious about the intimacy of these small-scale paintings, which I continue to do.”

The three selected pieces, which Straight describes as “small compared to my usual work,” measure between 9" x 12" and 7" x 10" and are abstract. The subject matter, he added, “is based on images of plaids, webs and spirograph-like forms.”

Titled D-293, D-298 and D-277, all three paintings were created in recent months and were exhibited last fall at Schmidt/Dean Gallery in Philadelphia.

New American Paintings, which Straight describes as “an exhibition of paintings displayed in print form rather than in a gallery situation,” publishes selected work from six regional competitions a year in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, Midwest, West and Pacific Coast regions. Each competition is juried by a well-known curator or critic who makes selections from submitted slides.

For the current Mid-Atlantic issue, the juror was Jonathan P. Binstock, curator of Contemporary Art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., who selected Straight’s work from a group of photographic slides that he sent to the publishers of New American Paintings.

Straight, whose work has been showcased in New American Paintings twice before, also has had work published in Arts, Arts and Antiques and The Sciences.

Grant Application by Robert Straight

Additionally, Straight has his work represented in several collections, galleries and museums throughout the United States, including the Delaware Art Museum, the Barbara Toll Fine Arts Gallery in New York City, the Howard Scott Gallery in New York City, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Detroit Institute in Detroit. A solo exhibit of his work also will be opening Friday, May 13, at the Schmidt/Dean Gallery in Philadelphia.

Straight said he thinks some qualities that make his work distinctive to art aficionados are its unusual use of shapes and lines. “My paintings are completely nonobjective,” he said, “while a number of the other artists [selected for New American Paintings] use representational imagery in their work.”

He added that the typically large scale of his paintings also distinguish his work. “Compared to many of the other paintings, my work looks pretty dynamic in print, and I think that is because of the scale,” Straight said. “Large-scale paintings can appear very complex when they are reduced to fit on the page of a book.”

Straight said that his current work is “a take-off on the paintings in New American Paintings--skewed grids that encroach upon linear webs.” One new twist is the medium, however, which is acrylic on canvas rather than gouache on paper.

Both Straight’s current paintings and some earlier works will be displayed at the upcoming solo show.

“I'm excited about the exhibit that will open in Philadelphia on May 13,” he said. “Although I've had more than 25 solo exhibits, each one represents a certain pivotal point in my career. Over time, an artist sees relationships in the most recent work and some of the earliest work.”

Article by Becca Hutchinson

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