JOHN MACSAI’s current show of watercolors again serves as a travelogue. This time the Chicago artist transports us to Israel and Egypt, with a quick stop (through two works) in Michigan. The paintings from Macsai’s sojourn iyn Israel, where he spent time as a staff architect at the Tel Tanninim archeological project, are landscapes of beaches, rocks, some gardens and graveyards that hint at a homage to Hopper, particularly in the pastel garden scenes. The Egyptian setting, in the Valley of the Kings and on the island of Elephantine, lead him to work in a more personalized, less fussy style, with a more sophisticated handling of color and light. There are also signs here of Macsai’s training as an architect (he is a principal in the firm of O’Donnell, Wicklund, Pigozzi and Peterson). Macsai shows us densely constructed cities along hillsides, doing so in an abstract way in which the houses almost become flat planes of wonderful clear colors — ochres,
blues, oranges. He juxtaposes these grids against vivid blue skies and minimizes details, occasionally adding a crisp line of wash or a palm tree. And though the viewer does not know by looking whether he has tried literally to capture his setting, he says no. “I felt free to rearrange or alter what the eye or the camera saw in order to achieve a desired effect, a change of emphasis or a better composition.” The show continues at Gallery 1756, 1756 N. Sedgewick St., through Nov. 29.
Pier Wright’s latest show reveals a slightly new direction for this abstract painter. Many of the oils exhibited continue to incorporate his familiar fragmented geometric forms, similar to halves of an oval. His canvases remain soaked with deep reds and oranges. But the forms now are freer. Wright has also added many contrasting colors, as in “The Dreaming,” and he often leaves some of the canvas devoid of the shapes, as in “Slow Red Flow.” In “Along the Way,” working on a much longer and narrower canvas than is ususal for him, Wright tests a much lighter palette of thinned oils in pale green and yellow colors, plus graphite, and he continues to avoid filling in the entire canvas. The result proves refreshing, allowing the colors and forms breathing room. Wright also shows in this exhibit what he can do with watercolor, sometimes on a smaller scale. These are among the most delightful works. On 15-by-14-inch sheets of primed paper, he incorporates a few forms, again leaving much of the surface empty. The show continues at Lydon Fine Art, 301 W. Superior St., through Dec. 5.
The small delicate watercolors and etchings on view in the current multimedia exhibit of Scott Bullock’s work reveal a subtlety and charm in Bullock’s choice of technique, palette, composition and scale. But these strengths are missing from his large, tougher-looking acrylic paintings of fragmented human forms that resemble surreal sculptures. Instead of a total human form, the bodies are composed of geometric objects that reflect the many experiences the artist feels every person is made up of such as a door knob attached to part of a door or a clock with Roman numerals. The sum of the parts becomes quite contrived and garish, however. The exhibit continues at Byron Roche Gallery, 750 N. Franklin St., until Dec. 12.