Arts & Entertainment

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E71pellieliCe

ARTIST EXPRESSES EMOTIONS THAT TELL
THE STORIES OF THOSE SHE ENCOUNTERS.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to the Jewish News

oan Snyder did not start painting until she was a senior in
college, but she has not stopped in the 35 years since.
In the early phase of her artistry, Snyder was known for
her "stroke" paintings. As she went along, her work became
more tactile with the addition of collage elements from lush fabrics
to Chinese herbs.
Regardless of approach, the subjects relate to her day-to-day encoun-
ters and can include text to announce connections. "Mom" or "Pop"
inscribed into a work leaves viewers no doubt about the reference.
"Joan Snyder: Paintings and Works on Paper" graces the walls at
the Revolution Gallery in Ferndale through May 26 and showcases
pieces from various phases in her career. Although it will be the first
time Revolution has featured the works of this artist, she has been
represented in a Detroit Institute of Arts show and in the collection
of the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
Snyder, whose paintings have been at the center of gallery exhibi-
tions around the country; also holds space at many museums, includ-
ing the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts
in Boston and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
"The minute I started painting, I knew this was the way that I
could speak," explains Snyder, a Rutgers University sociology major

Above: "Saying Goodbye IV"
1994; mixed media on canvas.
There are a few paintings in the
exhibit that deal with mourning.

Right: 'A Sad Story Told by an
Optimist," 1997; oih acrylii, cloth,
velvet, herbs, flowers, burlap on
canvas. Ultimately about Snyder
mother, with a text identifier in
the bottom right corner, the work
is a large triptych with a sea of
masks at the center, patterned
squares to the left and a garden of
red flowers at the other end

5/4
2001

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