The Woodlands Arts Council Celebrates 'The Poetry of Gravity'

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- He’s not a mathematician, but most certainly an enterprising math student could win a Mayhew Prize, for writing the formulas to predict the complex shapes of his pours. He’s an artist that uses no brushes. His canvas’ go in circles, but are squared. He’s a poet who doesn’t know his ‘hai’ from his ‘ku,’ but he understands Gravity, who essentially is his underling; the forlorn hope leader who takes to the charge, while the general takes his tea. The artists’ medium knows Poetry, yet when coupled with Gravity, they make beautiful offspring. Lines. Differing shapes. Beauty. Art. Gravity takes the suggested vision of the artist, and births it into reality; in a poetic form that only interaction between objects is truly able to understand, space and time. The Woodlands Arts Council is currently hosting a unique solo exhibition from Montgomery County artist, Martin Amorous, ‘The Poetry of Gravity,’ at their exhibit hall in TW. Amorous’ monochromatic works offer patrons a new perspective on two opposites, light and dark, and their relationships with canvas, and paper.

Amorous is a retired Sam Houston State University faculty member who founded the uni’s animation program, as well as being chair of the art department. Viewers can immediately appreciate the artists’ love of trees in the works displayed. Devoid of leaves as they may be, they still offer a beauty that can be admired by the viewer. The shapes, one can wonder whether imagined or unimagined. Are they an illusion of the mind? Are they even there? Of course they’re there. Gravity put them there, only after a pour of paint by Martin.

Amorous’ work is one of minimalism, chained together with a myriad of shapes that a congress of collectivists could admire. Tow the line. No deviation from the plan. No individualism of shape is allowed. Its art a puritan would be happy with. Void of true color, void of man’s feelings, but with the unmistakable accent of Gravity, and the Poetry it provides.

“Martin’s really good at developing these 2-D scenes of having spatial awareness, because he is used to developing things virtually in animation,” said artist Joseph Staley, who recently showed a painting at the 40th Season launch of the Young Texas Artists, Classic Cabaret, in The Woodlands. “His work is very meticulous, but at the same time they’re about improv, so he can create a composition but not have it feel forced.”

Amorous wants his work portrayed on revelatory terms, poorly lit, showing the openness of nature and the ill-protected stance it assumes. It can apply to man as well, with some facing subjugation due to their own choice inactions in life preparation, failing to sprout leaves on their branches. Never quite being capable of finding that warm place to shield them from the snow.

The process of preparation for Amorous is much like the makings of a James Bond martini, he likes his black and white enamels shaken, not stirred, by big-paint Sherwin Williams no less. Remind yourself to buy stock. Other materials include some ink, tape (for mispours), linseed oil, turpentine and ink. Then there is the lazy-susan type contraption that allows the canvas to be locked in place, for the precise angle of the pour. The result of each flow recommends the next course of action. Next you have Martin himself, wrestling around in his mind. ‘Does it look finished?’ ‘Would it interest a viewer?’ The simple answer, it's an agreement between Amorous, gravity, and the painting; together they create the poetry that the painting speaks to us. Once all the parties shake hands so to speak. The deal, then it's done.

“I don’t know how it’s gonna end up when I start,” said Amorous. “I like to challenge myself with a splash or splatter, and then figure out if it’s sky, ground, or a tree. It builds from there, one thing at a time.”

Only one of the works, 'Shipwreck,’ appeared to have a title. It’s a beautiful representation of what can be perceived as the north Lake Conroe shoreline, but it could be Lake Livingston as well. Truly, only the paint and gravity know where the scene is located. Martin’s time and patience have created a portal. A television if you will, inviting the viewer to engage with the illusion, to understand the narrative being offered, to find the prose of its Poetry, while trying to acknowledge the seriousness, or Gravity, of its frivolity. It's deep in a truly heightened sense. And any symbolism found in the piece, like the crucifix made from the boat's white vertical mast, and the white representing the distant shoreline, is purely circumstantial, and in no way represents any connection to the ultimate creator. Although the subject was not broached, there is no question, the artist’s answer would have been handled in the arena of coincidence.

“I think that Martin’s exhibition is the perfect for this time of year,” said TWAC Curator Annette Palmer, who also worked for SHSU art prior to arriving at TWAC. “We are feeling the cold and the loss of the leaves, and he has worked along the skeletal forms of nature.”

Any representation of Amorous’ intentions of design falls on deaf ears. He throws his ideas into the hopper of fate. Representations of the light and the dark, the associated shadows, the lifelessness of the wintery scenes, show nature at rest. Everyone, everything, is hunkered down for the season, yielding to the austerity, or the slim pickings of the locale, until the return of the budding time. Some may see Martin’s work in a post-communal sense, but the dark leads to the light, just as death leads to life. Sadness to happiness. Dearth to plethora.

“I thought the exhibit was spectacular,” said Tina Hobbs, an artist who lives just a stone’s throw from Cut n’ Shoot. “I love his technique, and my husband and I enjoyed the exhibit immensely.”

Martin’s small works on paper are just as important as the large. They're more intimate and less polished than their big sisters, but offer more texture to the viewer. The presentation offers a greater expanse not necessarily advanced in the more substantial pieces. The viewer gets a chance to stretch their eyesight. To exercise those peepers, to look between the lines and imagine. The opportunity to inspect between gravity’s stroke of poetic paint, perhaps enticing the observer to look between the lines of their own life. It might even solve a few questions. Forethought gives way to insight.

In viewing the differing shades between white and black, you see the influence of the linseed oil, with their thinning properties, while the turpentines hovers control over the mixtures as it commands the color tones. Both techniques offer limitless opportunities to influence his work; and it makes you wonder; if Amorous, in future projects, adds just one line, or a drop of red, yellow, or whatever. It would change everything.

A visit to The Woodlands Arts Council exhibit hall will not be wasted. Amorous’ works are a must see, forcing patrons to develop their own ideas and impressions of what is being viewed. Martin’s gravity driven pours are like notes on a sheet of music, equations on a chalkboard, poetic lines on paper, or thoughts in a mind. It is enlightening.

‘The Poetry of Gravity’ exhibit runs through March 6th. Visiting hours at The Woodlands Arts Council headquarters at 9450 Grogan’s Mill, Suite 160, are Tuesdays through Thursdays from 1 pm to 4 pm. TWAC is located in the D. Hilton Associates building, just off Grogans Mill Rd., on Evergreen Circle. Take the first right into the parking lot.

For more information: thewoodlandsartscouncil.org The TWAC is celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year.

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net

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