Michele Mariaud Gallery | 7/5-8/1 | Bellport, NY

Subtle Shifts

A Long Island gallery hosts a tribute exhibition for the late contemporary artist Charles Pfahl

By John O’Hern

Shortly before his death in 2013, Charles Pfahl designed an extraordinary book of his life’s work and asked me to write an essay for it. In “Light in the Darkness,” I referred to his long-time friendship with the painter John Koch: “When I asked Charles what Koch had taught him about light, he proclaimed without hesitation, ‘That there was light!’ Charles has always been attracted to color and what he calls the ‘subtle shifts and juxtapositions’ that occur as he moves his colored materials and objects around or the light moves across them.”

Charles Pfahl (1946-2013), Bird of Paradise, 2012, oil on linen, framed: 28½ x 83 x2"

In his work, color and light are paramount. Then come texture and pattern.

Michele Mariaud Gallery in Bellport, New York, will feature his paintings in the exhibition Charles Pfahl (1946-2013) A Light in the Darkness – Revisited, July 5 through August 1, and at the Hamptons Fine Art Fair in Southampton, New York, July 10 through 13.

The gallery’s director, Albert Delamour, writes, “Pfahl’s evocative realist paintings—rich with symbolic narrative, vibrant glazes and exquisite chiaroscuro—redefine classical traditions through a uniquely modern lens. We are proud to reintroduce Pfahl’s haunting, technically masterful works to a new generation of collectors, admirers, and students.”

Charles Pfahl (1946-2013), Anonymous, 1999, oil on canvas, 32 x 29½ x 2"

The “subtle shifts and juxtapositions” of light and color are apparent in his paintings but also occurred in small panels of iridescent metal leaf and bits and pieces of things laid into the concrete of his Albuquerque studio. His painting Tales of Hoffman, 2008, depicts a small portion of that floor beneath a timeworn table.

Charles Pfahl (1946-2013), Tales of Hoffman, 2008, oil on canvas, 26 x 26"

Charles and his wife Sharon van Ivan lived in a veritable stage set, full of props and colorful fabrics he collected from around the world that were the subject or setting for many of his paintings. They covered the ceilings and walls, and colorful carpets adorned the floors, each piece full of memories. Occasionally, they were cut up to become backgrounds for his paintings instead of frames as in Bluebird.

Sometimes, his figures were presented without context as in his painting of Sharon, Bird of Paradise, 2012. Sharon began posing for Charles in the 1970s. “My feeling is that he would have preferred most of the time to work on his self-portraits,” she relates. “Then he wouldn’t have to take breaks, have meals, deal with my moving too much or falling asleep or making jokes. In reality, there was nothing I liked better than being a part of one of his incredible paintings. I relished watching him mix colors without looking. He was in another world while working. We talked very little and listened to great music as he had the best sound equipment we could afford. And his tastes were eclectic. He let me choose the music when I posed. That was my treat. We worked long hours.”