Alan Osborne: Expressionist Enamel at The Richmond Art Center

Alan Osborne, Ascesis Series XX, 2008

Sculptor Alan Osborne’s more than 40 enamel paintings on bronze and copper at The Richmond Art Center are brightly colored abstractions that illustrate his skill as sculptor, printmaker and painter. The actual craft he uses to create these colorful enamels reinvigorates the art of the patineur. Osborne began his artistic career as a sculptor in Seattle working under Tom Jay, founder of Riverdog Foundry, from whom he learned bronze casting. Later, in 1999, Osborne himself founded his own The Art Foundry and accompanying gallery in Sacramento.

He learned printmaking from his friend Peter Voulkos (1924-2002) the renowned Bay Area ceramist and sculptor, whose influence is clearly evident in Osborne’s enamel works in their use of repeated strong geometric shapes and figures and abstract expressionist style.

These enameled pieces are skillfully and expertly executed, and their colorful abstract gestural forms create dynamic and engaging compositions that are iconic and enduring. Their images impart the symbolic visual impact of the best abstract and calligraphic art, the simplicity and power of simple forms—circles, sweeping painterly arcs and strokes, curves and squares, like Ascesis Series XVII (2007) and XX (2008), where bold splashes of brilliant color—blue, red, green, yellow and black—play significantly with and against each other to create dramatic dynamic visual fields. The eye literally dances over, around and with the forms and colors in a pure abstract orchestration of mind and sight.

One particularly impressive larger work on view is St Lucia Descending Earth (1-4) (2005), a series of four vitreous enameled copper wall pieces mounted vertically in “descending” order. Each separate piece is painted with red, white, and blue enamel in a varied pattern whereby the colors and shapes of each piece flow and drip downwards in an intriguing visual depiction of a literal descent. The heft and weight of the pull of gravity is kinesthetic and undeniable. This work has direct relation to Osborne’s first series of enameled pieces that he called Ex-Votos, which vary in size from 3” x 5” to larger copper sheets 16” x 20”. A recent piece, Untitled (2009), incorporates actual ideograms, alphabetic letters, and pseudo-hieroglyphs that may indicate a new direction in his work. Every piece in this exhibition is visually rewarding and rich, not merely as variations on a theme, but for their orchestrated complexity and vital lively compositions. A handsome color catalog accompanies this exhibition with an informative foreword by Nancy Servis, Executive Director of the Richmond Art Center.

Alan Osborne: Expressionist Enamel at Richmond Art Center
2540 Barrett Avenue
Richmond, CA 94804
Show runs from July 29 – August 29

For more info: 
The Richmond.Art Center
Alan Osborne and The Art Foundry