"FANCIFUL DRAWINGS, PRINTS EXCITE THE IMAGINATION"
Valerie Lueth's ink drawings, currently on view at Estel Gallery, measure only 4 inches square, but within each of these tightly constructed frames lies a wonderfully detailed marvel.
To stare at these illustrations, which explode in bursts of color and geometrical patterning, is to be drawn into a self-contained universe where dots and lines form their own logic.
Lueth shares this gallery show with her husband, Paul Roden, with whom she collaborated on a series of black-and-white prints called Woodland Creatures, each featuring a different animal or insect. Just as masterfully exectured, these images have a storybook quality, characterized by the stark lines and textures that come from printing with carved blocks of wood. Each creature possesses a distinct personality: the industrious ant, the tired-looking field mouse, the stately deer.
The title of Roden and Lueth's show is Assembling Utopia, a conceit that neatly brings together these two disparate bodies of work. While the couple's densely constructed prints have engaged social and political themes in the past, here they've conjured worlds devoid of human conflict and destruction.
Assembling Utopia is presented by Jerry Dale McFadden of TAG Art Gallery, who is looking for a new downtown gallery space.
The exhibit is on view at Estel Gallery, 115 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday or by appointment. For more information, see www.tagartgallery.com or call 429-7708.
-JONATHAN MARX, Staff Writer for The Tennessean
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