Broderick Gallery’s September show features “Freedom to Figure,” a show of acrylic on canvas paintings by Portland socio-political artist, Allen Schmertzler and Chilean artist, Susana Rodriguez.

 

Both artists offer work of immense depth, but Schmertzler’s work challenges the tenor of our time through powerful, highly choreographed scenes involving the human figure, while Rodriguez’s abstracted landscapes subtly call upon the viewer to find his/her own meaning. 

 

“These are two very different painters from vastly different parts of the world,” said George Broderick, gallery founder. “But they share a great talent for interpreting the world in which they live in a poignant manner.”

 

 

Susana Rodriguez

"Wind Dances Across the Stage"
Acrylic on Canvas
19" X 21"

 

 

Allen Schmertzler, a lifelong teacher and student of psychology and sociology, lives in southwest Portland and has worked in a variety of media. His work is greatly influenced by current events and his experiences, including a recent trip to Cuba. 

 

Of his latest works, Schmertzler offers: “From war and dance to Cuba and dance...figure the figure, figure the war, figure what I figure. ‘Freedom to Figure” corresponds to essentially what my paintings this year reflect. That is, a sadness in the growing war climate/conflicts, a lessening of our freedom, a president willing to spend our mighty global asset of being a “free” and prospering nation to wage unnecessary war, essentially endangering us even more, and that despite what I paint, the human figure, in its complicated psychological and sociological state factor into the imagery.”

more work by Allen Schmertzler

 

 

Susana Rodriguez lives in Cabildo, Chile, where she is inspired to paint interpretations of the sea, ships, industry and other imagery into her work. Of her expressive work, Rodriguez explains: “Every good painting shows drama; something is expected to happen at any time, or, has just happened before your eyes. Sometimes the happening is just above yourself; nature is superior to us and trying to copy it is a waste of time. So drama occurs every time somebody is looking at the painting again, and, the results differ from one to another.”

 

more work by Susana Rodriguez

 

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More on Rodriguez: Born in Vińa del Mar, Chile, Susana Rodríguez’s willingness to explore new pictorial territories has won her much acclaim in South America.  Her work has evolved through the areas of comic, traditions of abstract European and North American painters, and realistic models closer to illustration. This ability to work through different pictorial problems not only reveals an evident flexibility, but a desire to look for new roads in her own work and changes that have been surprising. 

 

A highlight of Rodriguez’s recent shows is “Valdivia and her River,” an international art competition which has taken place for the past 22 years. There were some 250 participants in different categories and her work was selected among the 30 best. These paintings were formed into a traveling art show and featured in Chile’s principal cities. Rodriguez has a been an artist and student of many great artists since 1968.

 

More on Schmertzler:  Schmertzler’s work is greatly influenced by a history of artists, such as Austrian, Egon Schiele and the German expressionists whose work challenged the tenor of their time. Though some of his Cuban imagery is simply about the human figure in light and movement. 

 

Schmertzler has shown extensively in Portland and was a founding member of the co-op Talisman Gallery. He counts his education as:

2 year apprentice with editorial cartoonist, Merle Cunnington.

1 year of study with Los Angeles Mag. and New Yorker Cartoonist, Eric Teitlebaum.

1 year study with animator, cartoonist, filmmaker Bill Plymptom.

Courses in Painting and Drawing Pacific Northwest College of Art 

1980 - 1997 with Paul Missal, Arvie Smith, Sheri Wolf, Carolyn Wilhelm.

1 year Sculpture with Michihiro Kosuge.

2 years Life Drawing and Painting with Bill Garnett.

Extensive travel, focusing on museums around the world.

Many thanks to our friends at Fernando's Hideaway for providing the excellent Spanish wines we've featured at our show openings and musical performances.

 

The Best Of 2005   Willamette Week Online Wed, 28 Dec 2005