Jan. 13, 2009 – Mango Tango's "Exhibition of 5" will present works of Andrea Anderson, Pam Benedetto, Lisa Etre, Lucinda O'Connell and Patty Tacquard that will fill the industrial-designed gallery with a tribute to light. An artists' reception, where viewers will be able to engage them in discussion about their works, will be held from 5:30-8:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 16, at Mango Tango Seaside Grande in Yacht Haven Grande. Entertainment will be provided by blues and rock 'n' roll group 2 Blue Shoes.
Andrea Anderson puts her art on view for the first time at Mango Tango. No stranger to the gallery, she has helped coordinate and hang exhibits at the gallery for the past year. Her studies at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Connecticut have given her a classic foundation in representational art. She chooses to paint out-of-doors, capturing the varying conditions of light as well as her individual sensations before nature.
Etre also enjoys creating work on location, using high-key color palettes and a variety of brushstrokes. Both artists are responsive to the character and texture of the object in nature and the contact of light on its surfaces. Etre and Anderson both present works in oil, while Etre also has a stellar grouping of pastels on paper. Gallery co-owner Jane Coombes describes her favorite pastel as "as strong as a Wolf Kahn painting."
Pam Benedetto excels as a figurative artist. The self-taught artist has been working with the gallery for two years. Whether she paints masked revelers of Mardi Gras, a woman in an evening gown contemplating the moon, or sensual nudes, Benedetto has a lyrical signature style. She is able to subtly capture and share a dream-like atmosphere of enchantment.
O'Connell is well known as an artist and art teacher in the Virgin Islands. She was the resident artist at Caneel Bay Resort on St. John for almost a decade and currently is the resident artist for The Ritz-Carlton on St Thomas, where she teaches weekly watercolor classes. She also creates and teaches art in her studio, Cloud Nine, in downtown Charlotte Amalie. Her grouping includes a small traditional watercolor, but is primarily vibrant oil-on-canvas paintings, in which she translates the radiance of the tropics in warm colors and heavy brushstrokes. When viewing her works, one is reminded of Frank Stella's comment, "The whole idea of making art is to be open, to be generous, and absorb the viewer and absorb yourself, to let them go into it."
Tacquard also creates oil-on-canvas paintings. Her formal training from the University of California at Berkeley is in environmental design. Her paintings focus on the play of shadow, color and light. She says, "I often think that shadows and light can communicate as much or more than the object itself." She is a superb draftsman who experiments prolifically with techniques, composition and subject matter. Gallery co-owner Smokey Pratt said, "Whether she chooses to paint a figure, a still life or a landscape, the viewer will find a freshness and improvisation built around the effects of light."
The show continues for six weeks. For more information, call 715-2789.
